Irrigation control systems and user interfaces

ABSTRACT

Systems, user interfaces, and methods related to irrigation control systems are provided herein. In some embodiments, an irrigation control system includes an irrigation management application which, when executed by an electronic device, causes a user interface to be displayed to a user. The user interface includes features that permit a user to do one or more of configure, monitor, program, control, adjust various components and/or operations of the irrigation management system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/321,633, filed Mar. 18, 2022, U.S. Provisional Application No.63/399,611, filed Aug. 19, 2022, and U.S. Provisional Application No.63/428,032, filed Nov. 25, 2022, each of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to irrigation control and, inparticular, to irrigation control systems with user interfaces formonitoring and controlling irrigation.

BACKGROUND

In a typical irrigation control system, a computer executing irrigationcontrol software and/or a dedicated electronic irrigation controllerstore and execute irrigation schedules that control watering componentsin a landscape to apply watering. In large-scale irrigation systems thatmay be employed, for example, on golf courses, there is a very largenumber of valves or stations, each of which has to be individuallycontrolled (e.g., opened or closed to control water flow to sprinklers)and monitored. Central irrigation control software is often complex andrequires the user to undergo specialized training, which is complex,time-consuming, and often not easy to understand, such that a limitednumber of users are able to properly operate the central irrigationcontrol software.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Disclosed herein are embodiments of systems, methods, user interfaces,and controls relating to monitoring and/or controlling an irrigationsystem. This description includes drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates a diagram of an exemplary irrigation control systemin accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 1B illustrates a diagram of another exemplary irrigation controlsystem in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 1C illustrates a feature of another exemplary irrigation controlsystem in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of an exemplary computing devicein accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of an exemplary server device inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2C is a functional block diagram of an exemplary mobile device inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area and a locationicon indicating a physical location of an electronic device of a user onthe map;

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area and a locationicon indicating a physical location of an electronic device of a user inthe irrigation area;

FIG. 3C illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area, a location iconindicating a physical location of an electronic device of a user in theirrigation area, and a visual area around the location icon indicating apredicted accuracy of the physical location of the electronic device onthe map;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary portion of a user interface inaccordance with some embodiments that displays a map of an irrigationarea including station icons corresponding to the irrigation stationsdeployed in the irrigation area and visually indicating an operationalstatus of the irrigation stations;

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays diagnostics relating to operational status ofthe irrigation stations deployed in the irrigation area;

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays, on the map of the irrigation area,diagnostics relating to operational status of the irrigation stationsdeployed in the irrigation area;

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area including stationicons corresponding to the irrigation stations deployed in theirrigation area, as well as informational fields indicating theoperational and/or informational attributes of the irrigation stations;

FIG. 6B illustrates an electronic device in accordance with someembodiments that stores map data downloaded from a wide area network inmemory to be retrieved for display on a user interface in the event anactive network connection is not available;

FIG. 6C illustrates a simplified representation of an exemplary mapsource menu displayed by the irrigation management application 114, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6D illustrates an exemplary a download confirmation optionidentifying a number of map tiles to be downloaded, in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6E illustrates a simplified representation of the exemplary mapsource menu with a download indicator, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 6F illustrates a simplified representation of the exemplary mapsource menu with delete option in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area where irrigationstations are deployed and shows a multi-station selector feature thatpermits a user to apply control selections to multiple irrigationstations;

FIG. 7B shows an embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7A and showsthe multi-station selector feature as a user-selectable polygon with anoverall shape that the user can edit within the map in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 7C shows a portion of a user interface and illustrates a drawingtool that permits a user to draw a polygon with a user-defined shape inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7D shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7Cand illustrates the drawing tool in action while the user is in theprocess of defining the overall shape for the polygon in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 7E shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7Dand illustrates showing the final overall polygon shape defined by theuser while using the drawing tool in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7F shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7Eand illustrates the final polygon drawn on the map by the user usingwith the drawing tool in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7G shows an embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7A and shows amulti-station selector feature as a user-selectable polygon that wasmanually drawn by the user, with multi-station control selectionsadjacent the user-selectable polygon in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 7H shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area that includesstation icons corresponding to the irrigation stations deployed in theirrigation area, the user interface including the multi-station selectorfeature that permits the user to manually select any of the stationicons appearing on the map;

FIG. 7I shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7H,visually showing which of the station icons have been selected by theuser and showing a control panel that appears within the user interfacein response to a user interaction with the multi-station selectorfeature in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7J shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7I,visually showing, within the control panel, how many station icons havebeen selected by the user;

FIG. 7K shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7Jwith an exemplary run duration control sub-menu, which appears inresponse to a user interaction with the control panel, overlaying aportion of the map in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7L shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7J,but with a visual indication of each station icon that is associatedwith an irrigation station that is actively irrigating in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 7M shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 7Ishowing the control panel that appears within the user interface inresponse to a user interaction with the multi-station selector feature,and permits the user to select a second group of irrigation stations tocontrol in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map layer including aerial map imagery, anirrigation control layer superimposed with the map layer, andsupplemental image layers superimposed with the map layer and theirrigation control layer;

FIG. 8B is a color photographic image of the exemplary user interface ofFIG. 8A in accordance with some embodiments that displays the map layerincluding aerial map imagery, the irrigation control layer superimposedwith the map layer, and supplemental image layers superimposed with themap layer and the irrigation control layer;

FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area including stationicons corresponding to irrigation stations deployed in the irrigationarea, with the station icons visually indicating various operationalattributes of the irrigation stations corresponding to the stationicons;

FIG. 9B shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area including stationicons corresponding to irrigation stations deployed in the irrigationarea, with the station icons visually indicating a location type of theirrigation area where the irrigation stations corresponding to thestation icons are located;

FIG. 10A shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a listing of irrigation stations of anirrigation area, permitting a user to select one or more irrigationstations, control the selected irrigation stations, and/or to sort theirrigation stations based on their operational parameters;

FIG. 10B shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 10Aand further showing an interactive name filter feature that permits theuser to filter the irrigation stations based on the characters in theiridentifiers in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10C shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG. 10Aand further showing an interactive name filter feature that permits theuser to search for irrigation stations that contain certain charactersin their identifiers in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a table of data relating to one or morecharacteristics of an irrigation system, wherein the data values aredisplayed in multiple colors such that each color represents a differentrange of the values of the data;

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a map of an irrigation area and exemplaryinformational fields associated with the irrigation area and/orirrigation stations located in the irrigation area;

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a listing of irrigation stations of anirrigation area, permitting a user to select one or more irrigationstations and view the active operational attribute adjustments for theselected irrigation stations;

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that permits a user to select a program or schedule anddefine watering in terms of an amount of water to be applied to thearea;

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 14 ,showing a sub-menu that permits the user to enter a specific value forthe amount of water to be applied by the selected irrigation stations ofa program during their run time;

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that permits a user to adjust a crop coefficient for one ormore user-selected irrigation stations;

FIG. 17A shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that permits a user to select a group of irrigation stationsand includes a batch edit menu that permits the user to select one ormore operational attributes of the irrigation stations of the group foradjustment;

FIG. 17B shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 17A witha sub-menu that permits the user to enter specific values foroperational attributes selected in the batch edit menu of FIG. 17A inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17C shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 17A witha sub-menu that permits the user to enter specific values of a selectedoperational attribute to be applied to the irrigation stations of thegroup in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17D shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 17A witha sub-menu that permits the user to enter specific values of oneuser-selected operational attribute to be applied to the irrigationstations of the group in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17D shows an exemplary embodiment of the sub-menu of FIG. 17C thatpermits the user to enter specific values of another user-selectedoperational attribute to be applied to the irrigation stations of thegroup in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17E shows an exemplary embodiment of the sub-menu of FIG. 17D thatpermits the user to enter specific values of yet another user-selectedoperational attribute to be applied to the irrigation stations of thegroup in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 18 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a listing of irrigation stations of anirrigation area, permitting a user to select one or more irrigationstations and to move and/or reorder one or more of the irrigationstations in the listing;

FIG. 19A shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 witha menu that permits the user to enter specific values of where in theirrigation station listing a user-selected irrigation station is to bemoved in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 19B shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 ,showing a menu that permits the user to enter specific values of how theirrigation stations in the listing are to be reordered in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 19C shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 ,showing another sub-menu that permits the user to select how theirrigation stations in the listing are to be reordered in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 19D shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 ,showing another sub-menu that permits the user to select a new locationin the listing for an irrigation station being reordered in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 19E shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 ,showing another sub-menu that permits the user to select a new locationin the listing for an irrigation station being reordered in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 19F shows an exemplary embodiment of the interface of FIG. 18 ,showing another sub-menu that permits the user to select a new locationin the listing for an irrigation station being reordered in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 20A shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that includes a listing of flow tree elements associatedwith the irrigation stations of an irrigation area, permitting a user toselect one or more of the flow tree elements and move one or more of theflow tree elements in the listing;

FIG. 20B shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG.20A, and illustrates a listing of flow tree elements indicating multipleexpandable flow branch layers in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 20C shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG.20A, and illustrates a sub-menu that permits the user to select alocation in the flow tree element listing where to move a selected flowtree element in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 20D shows an exemplary embodiment of the user interface of FIG.20A, and illustrates an updated flow tree element listing after the usermoves a selected flow tree element to a different user-defined locationin accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 21A shows a map of an irrigation area and station iconsrepresenting the irrigation stations in the irrigation area,demonstrating that the irrigation stations can be scheduled to beinactive within certain time intervals when irrigation area-maintenanceequipment is scheduled to pass through the area that the irrigationstations water in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 21B shows a map of an irrigation area and station iconsrepresenting the irrigation stations in the irrigation area,demonstrating that the irrigation stations can be scheduled to be activewithin certain time intervals when irrigation area-maintenance equipmentare not scheduled to pass through the area that the irrigation stationswater in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 22A shows a map of an irrigation area and station iconsrepresenting the irrigation stations in the irrigation area,demonstrating that the irrigation stations are active while anelectronic device of a user is detected outside of the portion of theirrigation area that the irrigation stations water in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 22B shows a map of an irrigation area and station iconsrepresenting the irrigation stations in the irrigation area,demonstrating that the irrigation stations can be inactivated when anelectronic device of a user is detected within the portion of theirrigation area that the irrigation stations water in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 23 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method of using an artificialintelligence model to process various irrigation area control-relatedinputs and provide recommendations regarding landscaping of theirrigation area in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments showing a map of an irrigation area and multiple stationicons corresponding to irrigation stations deployed in the irrigationarea, also showing that the user interface permits a user to select astation icon to bring up an interactive control menu that permits theuser to see various informational and operational attributes of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon;

FIG. 25 shows a portion of the interface of FIG. 24 to illustrate anenlarged version of the irrigation station control panel menu of FIG. 24in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 26 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area including stationicons corresponding to irrigation stations deployed in the irrigationarea, with the station icons visually indicating a nozzle type of thesprinklers controlled by the irrigation stations corresponding to thestation icons;

FIG. 27 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a portion of map of an irrigation areaincluding a station icon corresponding to an irrigation station deployedin the irrigation area and illustrating a graphical indicator that maybe associated with a station icon to visually indicate an identifier anda remaining watering time for the irrigation station corresponding tothe station icon; and

FIG. 28 shows an exemplary user interface in accordance with someembodiments that displays a map of an irrigation area including stationicons corresponding to irrigation stations deployed in the irrigationarea, with each station icon being associated with a visual markerindicating an adjustment range of an operational parameter of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon.

Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity andhave not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensionsand/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures maybe exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improveunderstanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also,common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in acommercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order tofacilitate a less obstructed view of these embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted ina particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art willunderstand that such specificity with respect to sequence is notactually required. The terms and expressions used herein have theordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressionsby persons skilled in the art as set forth above except where differentspecific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but ismade merely for the purpose of describing the general principles ofexemplary embodiments. The scope of the invention should be determinedwith reference to the claims. Reference throughout this specification to“one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments”, “animplementation”, “some implementations”, “some applications”, or similarlanguage means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in oneembodiment,” “in an embodiment,” “in some embodiments”, “in someimplementations”, and similar language throughout this specificationmay, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Generally and in some embodiments, systems, user interfaces, and methodsrelated to landscape and/or irrigation management include an irrigationmanagement application which, when executed by a control circuit (e.g.,processor) of an electronic device, causes a user interface to bedisplayed to a user. The user interface includes features that permit auser to do one or more of configure, monitor, program, control, adjustvarious components and/or operations of the irrigation managementsystem. For example, in some embodiments, the user may check the status,operational parameters, and/or other information relating to irrigationstations and/or other stations of the irrigation system. And forexample, in some embodiments, the user interface permits the user toadjust operational attributes of one or more of irrigation stationsand/or other stations to control operation of the stations according tothe system-generated operational attributes and/or user-adjustedoperational attributes.

In some embodiments, the user interface is configured to provide a moreintuitive and easier to use interface than in traditional complexcentral irrigation control systems. Often, traditional central controlirrigation systems are difficult to learn to use which limits those thatcan properly operate the central control irrigation system. In someembodiments, the user interface includes interactive features whileviewing a map interface. In some embodiments, the user interfaceincludes interactive features while viewing a data interface. And insome embodiments, the user interface includes intuitive programmingfeatures to simplify otherwise tedious and mistake prone programmingprocesses. In some embodiments, various features of the user interfaceprovide easy access to functions of the system without the need tocomplete extensive training or have extensive experience.

Further, in some embodiments, irrigation management applications may beapplicable in multiple landscape and irrigation settings and devices.For example, in some embodiments, an irrigation management applicationmay be at least part of a central irrigation control system. In someembodiments, irrigation management application may be stored andexecuted at least in part by a central computer, a server providingcentral control functionality, mobile electronic devices (such as mobilecomputers, mobile tablets and phones, remote controls, etc.) and variousfield components (such as interface units, satellite controllers, etc.).In some embodiments, irrigation management application may beimplemented in irrigation systems that are not central-control based.For example, the irrigation management application may be stored andexecuted at least in part by mobile electronic devices (such as mobilecomputers, mobile tablets and phones, remote controls, etc.) incommunication with a stand-alone controller (e.g., a residentialirrigation controller) or satellite controller configured to function asa stand-alone controller.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, various irrigation management systems areillustrated and described according to some embodiments. In such systemsand according to some embodiments, an irrigation management applicationis provided. As used herein, an irrigation management applicationgenerally refers to an application (e.g., software or set of codeexecutable by a control circuit) that provides irrigation managementfunctionality. As used herein, irrigation management generally refers toat least one or both of monitoring and controlling irrigation systemcomponents and operation. Accordingly, (1) in some embodiments, theirrigation management application monitors the system, (2) in someembodiments, the irrigation management application controls the system,and (3) in some embodiments, the irrigation management applicationmonitors and controls the system. In some embodiments, these functionscan be further defined such that irrigation management generally refersto at least one or more of the following general functions of alandscape or irrigation system: configuring, monitoring, programming,controlling, and adjusting irrigation system components and operation.

Referring to FIG. 1A, an exemplary irrigation management system 100 isshown. Generally, the system 100 includes an irrigation managementapplication 114 a (e.g., central control software) stored on andexecuted by a central computer 112, which can be used for managingirrigation components of an irrigation system 116 located at one or moresites. The irrigation management application 114 a and central computer112 can be accessed via a network 124 (e.g., the Internet) by authorizedremote electronic devices, such as computing devices 118, mobile devices120 a (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, etc.). Further, the centralcomputer 112 can communicate with remote server(s) 122 (e.g., weatherservers, map servers, and other third party data or service providers)via the network 124. The irrigation management application functions toprovide one or more of the functions noted above. For example, in someembodiments, the irrigation management application 114 a can include,for example, one or more of setting, monitoring and adjustingoperational parameters of and informational data associated with any andall components of the irrigation system 116, visually displaying theoperational status of and informational data associated with any and allcomponents of the irrigation system 116, automatically or manuallycontrolling the operational parameters of any and all components of theirrigation system 116, and/or automatically or manually turning on andoff and/or activating and deactivating any and all components of theirrigation system 116.

In FIG. 1A, the central computer 112, computing devices 118, and mobiledevices 120 a, 120 b are examples of electronic devices. The term“electronic device” as used herein may include a stationary or portableelectronic device, for example, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, aserver, multiple communicatively connected servers, a distributedcomputer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a smartwatch or other wearable device, or any otherelectronic device including a control circuit (e.g., processor) thatexecutes at least a portion of the irrigation management applicationand/or related application/s that support the irrigation managementapplication. The exemplary electronic devices shown in FIG. 1A, namely,central computer 112, computing device 118, mobile devices 120 a, 120 b,and server 122, may be configured for data display and entry andprocessing as well as for communication with each other and otherdevices of the system 100 via the network 124.

The exemplary network 124 depicted in FIG. 1A may be any computerconnection network, e.g., including one or more of a wide-area network(WAN), a local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), awireless local area network (WLAN), a wired network, a wireless network,or any other internet or intranet network, or combinations of suchnetworks. Generally, communication between various electronic devices ofsystem 100 may take place over hard-wired, wireless, cellular, LoRa,LoRaWAN, Zigbee, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE))networked components or the like. In some embodiments, one or moreelectronic devices of system 100 may include cloud-based features, suchas cloud-based memory storage.

In some embodiments, electronic devices such as the central computer112, computing device 118, mobile phone/tablet 120 a, 120 b, and/orremote server 122 include at least a portion of or are otherwiseconfigured to work with the irrigation management application 114 a.Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1A, the mobile devices 120 a and 120 binclude one of irrigation management applications 114 b and 114 b′, andthe remote computing devices 118 include one of irrigation managementapplications 114 c and 114 c′. In some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 a, 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′ comprisecomputer program code that is configured to be respectively installed onand executed by the electronic devices 112, 118, and 120 a, 120 b (e.g.,by a control circuit of these electronic devices described in moredetail below with respect to FIG. 2A-2B). The irrigation managementapplication 114 a, 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′ can be executed by therespective electronic devices 112, 118, 120 a, 120 b in concert withother software modules or applications (computer program code), orgroups of applications, such as operating systems, browser applications,location applications (e.g., mapping, GPS, etc. applications),two-factor authentication (TFA) applications, single sign on (SSO)applications, graphics processing applications, security applications,etc. For example, in some embodiments, the irrigation managementapplication 114 b′ and 114 c′ comprises a browser application includingcode (e.g., HTML) and/or scripts (e.g., JavaScript) downloaded from theirrigation management application 114 a and executed via the browserapplication that runs on the respective ones of the computing devices118 and the mobile devices 120 a. When the browser application executesthe received code (e.g., HTML) and/or scripts (e.g., JavaScript)downloaded from the irrigation management application 114 a, the browserapplication and the downloaded code/scripts together function as theirrigation management application 114 b′, 114 c′ of the remote computer118 and mobile device 120 a to display a user interface for the user.

In some embodiments, the software of the irrigation managementapplication 114 a, 114 b, 114 c can be a dedicated application (e.g., anapplication specific to irrigation management functions) or a generalapplication that that can provide or support irrigation managementfunctions as well as other operating system and other non-irrigationmanagement functions. In some embodiments, the irrigation managementapplication 114 a, 114 b, 114 c is an add-on application that isinstalled on one or more of the electronic devices 112, 118, and 120 a,120 b, respectively, and that cooperates with and/or is integral toother application/s of the electronic devices 112, 118, 120 a, 120 bsuch as the operating system and works with the other application/s toprovide the functionality described herein. And in some embodiments, theirrigation management application 114 b, 114 c can comprise anapplication configured to link a browser application to a remotecomputer device (computer 112, 112 a) or server (server 112 b)configured to provide signaling (code and/or scripts) to cause thebrowser application to display the user interface. In other words, theirrigation management application 114 b, 114 c can simply provide a linkto a computer or mobile device supported web site served by the computer112, 112 a or the server 112 b, the web site serving the user interfacefor the display at the remote computer 118 and/or mobile devices 120 a,120 c.

With reference to FIG. 1A, the general functionality of managing (e.g.,monitoring and/or controlling) the irrigation system 116 is implementedvia a central computer 112, which is connected to irrigation equipmentat one or more sites of the irrigation system 116. The components of theirrigation system 116 are variable depending on the type of system andlevel of control needed. For example, the equipment of the irrigationsystem 116 may include various field control devices such as interfaceunits 126, communication components/relays/switches (not shown),satellite controllers 130, encoder units 127 (i.e., a type of interfaceunit that outputs modulated commands on a two-wire path 131), decoders128, station valves, master valves, sprinklers, emitters, sensors,pumps, pump stations, lighting devices, etc. Generally, one or more ofthe field components control operation of stations. As used herein, astation is a controlled output of the irrigation system that correspondsto a physical component in the field. A station typically has binarystates, such as on or off, but could further be a partially on/partiallyoff state. An example “irrigation station” corresponds to a valve thatis controlled, for example, using a latching or non-latching solenoid.The valve is typically in an off state (closed, not allowing water toflow therethrough) or an on state (open, allowing water to flowtherethrough). When a given valve is open, water flows through the valveto one or more sprinkler devices in the fluid path downstream of thevalve. In some cases, the valve is part of a “valve-in-head” sprinkler(such as a rotor) in which case there is a one-to-one relationshipbetween valve (station) and the sprinkler. In some cases, the fluid pathfrom the valve branches to one or more sprinklers located separate fromthe valve. In any event, the controlled valve is typically referred toas an irrigation station. In the illustration of FIG. 1A, each of thesatellite controllers 130 may couple to and control multiple irrigationstations. And in the illustration of FIG. 1A, each of the decoders 128may directly control one or more valves, such that a given decoder iscoupled to and controls one or more irrigation stations. It is alsoknown that other stations may be controlled by embodiments of theirrigation management application 114 a. And it is known to use switchese.g., to control pumps, fountains, electrical lighting, and the likesuch that the switches can each be considered a station being controlledby the irrigation management system.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1A, the central computer 112 iscoupled to the decoders 128 via an encoder unit 127 at the site of theirrigation system 116, and is connected to the encoder unit 127 via thenetwork 124 which can include direct wireline connections from thecomputer 112 to the encoder unit 127. In some embodiments, the centralcomputer 112 is owned and operated by the user or customer and has theirrigation management application 114 a installed thereon. In certainaspects, the central computer 112 provides, via the software of theirrigation management application 114 a, a user interface to the userthat is at the computer 112 (e.g., via a keyboard and display directlycoupled to the computer 112 or viewed by users at their respectiveremote electronic devices 118, 120 a via irrigation managementapplication 114 a, 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′ running respectivelythereon.

As will be described in more detail below, in some aspects, theirrigation management application 114 a of the central computer 112 maygenerate, via the irrigation management application 114 b, 114 b′, 114c, 114 c′ (e.g., a conventional application, mobile application, webbrowser application, etc.) a user interface for a user of the electronicdevice 118, 120 a that permits the user to monitor the operationalstatus of any component of the irrigation system 116 and to enter and/ormodify various operational or informational parameters associated withany of the components of the irrigation system 116. For example, in oneaspect, the user of an electronic device 118, 120 a may enter auser-desired selections (e.g., run time schedule, irrigation stationidentifier, command to turn irrigation on/off, etc.) via the userinterface of the application 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′ accessible onthe user's electronic device 118, 120 a, and the entry is received bythe central computer 112 and stored in its memory.

In some embodiments, the output signals corresponding to the inputsentered by a user of an electronic device 112, 118, 120 a into a userinterface generated by the respective irrigation management application114 a, 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′ are transferred by the centralcomputer 112 to the field components. For example, in some embodiments,the central computer 112 sends on/off commands to the interface unit 126to be passed to the appropriate satellite controller 130 to control theappropriate stations, or may be passed to the encoder unit 127 to beformatted into a command to be transmitted to the appropriate decoder128 to control the appropriate one or more valve (irrigation station)controlled by the decoder 128. In some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 a at the computer 112 transmits an irrigationschedule or an adjustment to an irrigation schedule to a given satellitecontroller 130 via the interface unit 126, the schedule stored andexecuted by the satellite controller 130. Notably, while the centralcomputer 112 is shown in FIG. 1A as not being at the site of theirrigation system 116, in some aspects, the central computer 112 may belocated at the site of the irrigation system 116. Such a centralcomputer 112 may be a customer-owned computer with irrigation managementapplication 114 a installed thereon.

With reference to FIG. 1B, in some embodiments, the central computer 112a is similar to the central computer 112 of FIG. 1A in that it is remotefrom the site of the irrigation system 116 and coupled to the irrigationsystem 116 by a network 124 (e.g., a wide area network). As also shownin FIG. 1B, the irrigation management application 114 d may be storedand executed by a cloud-based server 112 b. In such embodiments, theserver 112 b may be hosted by an irrigation company that providesirrigation control services (such as irrigation system monitoring,irrigation schedule creation, management and execution) from a remotecentral location to multiple different users or customers via remotecomputing devices 118 and/or mobile devices 120 a for their respectiveirrigation systems at their respective sites. As shown in FIG. 1B, theserver 112 b is communicationally coupled to the devices at the site ofthe irrigation system 116 via the network 124 similar to how thecomputer 112 a is communicationally coupled to the devices at the siteof the irrigation system 116.

In some embodiments, the cloud-based server 112 b is owned and operatedby the user or customer and has irrigation central control application114 d installed thereon. In some embodiments, the functionality ofmonitoring and/or controlling the irrigation system 116 is implementedvia the server 112 b. For example, the server 112 b may provide a userinterface via the irrigation management application 114 b, 114 b′, 114c, 114 c′ to the user that is viewed by the user at the user's remotecomputer 118 and/or mobile device 120 a. Using the irrigation managementapplication 114 b, 114 b′, 114 c, 114 c′, the user of a remote computer118, mobile devices 120 a may enter a user-desired operational attributeselections (e.g., pause irrigation, restart irrigation, turn irrigationstation on/off, etc.), and these selections are received by the server112 b and may be stored in its memory. The output signals from theserver 112 b are communicated to the field devices at the site of theirrigation system 116.

In some embodiments, similar to that described in FIG. 1A, theirrigation management application 114 b, 114 c can be a dedicatedapplication (e.g., an application specific to irrigation managementfunctions) or a general application that that can provide or supportirrigation management functions as well as other operating system andother non-irrigation management functions. And in some embodiments, theirrigation management application 114 b′ and 114 c′ can be abrowser-based application that is native to an operating system of theremote computer 118 or mobile device 120 a or downloaded to andinstalled on the remote computer 118 or mobile device 120 a. When thebrowser-based application receives code (e.g., HTML) and/or scripts(e.g., JavaScript) downloaded from the irrigation management application114 a or 114 d, the browser-based application and the downloadedcode/scripts together function as the irrigation management application114 b′, 114 c′ to display a user interface at the remote computer 118and mobile device 120 a. And in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 b, 114 c can comprise an applicationconfigured to link a browser application to a remote computer device(computer 112, 112 a) or server (server 112 b) configured to providesignaling (code and/or scripts) to cause the browser application todisplay the user interface. In other words, the irrigation managementapplication 114 b, 114 c can simply provide a link to a computer ormobile device supported website served by the computer 112, 112 a or theserver 112 b, the web site serving the user interface for the display atthe remote computer 118 and/or mobile devices 120 a, 120 b.

Also as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 b of mobile device 120 b can be configured toprovide irrigation management functionality directly to one or more ofthe components of the irrigation system 116 at the site. For example,the mobile device 120 b can be configured to communicate wirelessly anddirectly to one or more of the encoder units 127, the decoder 128, theinterface unit 126 and the satellite controllers 130. For example, oneor more of these devices may include an integrated or removablyconnectable transceiver to communicate with the mobile device 120 b. Insuch embodiments, the mobile device 120 b may communicate directly tothese devices without first communicating to the irrigation managementapplication 114 a or 114 d. Also shown in FIG. 1B, in some embodiments,the irrigation control application 114 b of mobile device 120 c candirectly communicate with one or more of the field devices via thenetwork 124 without first communicating to the irrigation managementapplication 114 a or 114 d.

Generally, users can access features of the irrigation managementapplication 114 a at the central computer 112, 112 a and/or at theremote electronic devices 118, 120 a, e.g., to manage the irrigationsystem 116 by checking the status of various components of theirrigation system 116, sending commands to various components of theirrigation system 116, making programming changes associated withvarious components of the irrigation system 116, viewingreports/status/alerts in connection with various components of theirrigation system 116, and so on. In some embodiments, the application114 a, 114 b, 114 c, 114 d can communicate with remote servers 122, forexample, map servers to obtain map information and/or imagery, weatherservers, to obtain rainfall, humidity and other weather-relatedinformation that can be used by the application 114 a-114 d to adjustwatering schedules of the irrigation system 116.

Referring next to FIG. 1C, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 b permits mobile devices 120 d and 120 e tocommunicate with an irrigation controller 140 directly or via a network124 without communicating via any central computer 112, 112 a, or viathe central cloud server 112 b. For example, in some embodiments, thecontroller 140 is a stand-alone controller or irrigation control unitthat is independent of or not part of a larger central control system.In other words, as shown in FIG. 1C, a user of the mobile device 120 d,120 e may use the irrigation management application 114 b to monitorand/or control various aspects of the status and/or operation of one ormore stations 150 via various user interfaces. In this illustratedembodiment, the stations 150 connected to the irrigation controller 140are irrigation stations (e.g., valves that control the flow of water toone or more sprinkler device fluidly connected to valves).

In the embodiments of FIG. 1C, the network 124 used by the mobile device120 d may be any local or wide area network and can include a cellularnetwork, a local wireless network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network), and so on.And in some embodiments, the mobile device 120 e may communicate with anintegrated or removably connected transceiver of the irrigationcontroller 140 (e.g., using Bluetooth or other direct wirelessconnection). It is understood that the controller 140 can be anyirrigation control device, such as a station-based controller,decoder-based controller, a decoder, wireless valve/rotor, and so on.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, in some embodiments, the functionality ofmanaging (e.g., monitoring and/or controlling) the irrigation system 116is implemented via software stored on or accessible by the mobileelectronic device 120 a-120 e, such as a mobile application version ofthe irrigation management application 114 b and/or a browser that workstogether with the irrigation management application 114 a, 114 d. Insome embodiments, the browser function executing commands and codereceived from the irrigation management application 114 a, 114 d can bereferred to as an irrigation management application 114 b′, 114 c′. Asshown in FIGS. 1A-1C, the irrigation management application 114 b can bean iOS or Android-based irrigation management application (or app)installed on the mobile device 120 a-120 e and is configured towirelessly communicate via the network 124 with one or more of thecentral computer 112, 112 a, central cloud server 112 b, and/or withcomponents of the system 116 in the field. In such case, a mobileapplication (mobile app) 114 b of the mobile devices 120 a-120 eprovides a user interface to the user on a display screen of the mobiledevice to allow the user to monitor and/or control various aspects ofthe irrigation system 116. In some embodiments, the mobile device 120a-120 e can transmit wireless signals to one or more of the centralcomputer 112, 112 a, cloud server 112 b to provide the signaling to thecomponents of the irrigation system 116 to implement various operationalattribute adjustments and/or control commands to one or more componentsof the irrigation system 116.

It is noted that in some embodiments, at least portions of theirrigation management application is stored in the memory of differentdevices in the system such that the irrigation management application isdistributed between various devices, e.g., the computer 112, 112 a,cloud server 112 b, the remote computers 118 and the mobile devices 120a-120 c. Further, in some embodiments, the irrigation managementapplication at the remote computer 118 and/or mobile devices 120comprises a browser application configured to display the user interfacebased on signaling received from a remote computer device or server inorder to provide irrigation management functionality to the user via theuser interface.

With reference to FIG. 2A, an exemplary computing device (e.g., computer112, 118) configured for use with exemplary systems and methodsdescribed herein may include a control circuit 220 electrically coupledvia a connection (e.g., a bus, etc.) 222 to a memory 224 and via aconnection 226 (e.g., a bus, etc.) to a power supply 228. In someembodiments, the control circuit 220 is a programmable processor (e.g.,a microprocessor or a microcontroller). And in some embodiments, thecontrol circuit 220 can comprise a fixed-purpose hard-wired platform orcan comprise a partially or wholly programmable platform, such as amicrocontroller, an application specification integrated circuit, afield programmable gate array, and so on. These architectural optionsare well known and understood in the art and require no furtherdescription.

The control circuit 220 can be configured (for example, by usingcorresponding programming stored in the memory 224 (such as theirrigation management application) as will be well understood by thoseskilled in the art) to carry out one or more of the steps, actions,and/or functions described herein. In some embodiments, the memory 224may be integral to the control circuit 220 or can be physically discrete(in whole or in part) from the control circuit 220 and may be configuredto non-transitorily store the computer instructions that, when executedby the control circuit 220, cause the control circuit 220 to behave asdescribed herein. (As used herein, this reference to “non-transitorily”will be understood to refer to a non-ephemeral state for the storedcontents (and hence excludes when the stored contents merely constitutesignals or waves) rather than volatility of the storage media itself andhence includes both non-volatile memory (such as read-only memory (ROM))as well as volatile memory (such as an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM))). Accordingly, the memory 224 may be referred to as anon-transitory medium or non-transitory computer readable medium.

The control circuit 220 of the computing device may be also electricallycoupled via a connection 230 to an input/output 232 that can receivesignals from other devices, for example, the central computer 112, 112a, central cloud server 112 b, one or more mobile devices 120, server122, etc., and/or from another electronic device of the system 100 or incommunication with the system 100. The input/output 232 of the computingdevice can also send signals to other devices, for example, interfaceunits 126, encoder units 127, etc.

The control circuit 220 of the exemplary computing device shown in FIG.2A may be electrically coupled via a connection 234 to a user interface236, which may include a visual display or display screen 237 (e.g., LEDscreen) and/or button input 239 that provide the user interface 236 withthe ability to permit a user of the computing device to user theirrigation control application 114 to monitor and/or control theirrigation control system 116 by inputting menu selections and/orcommands via touch-screen and/or button operation and/or voice commandsas will be described in more detail below. It will be appreciated thatthe performance of such functions by the control circuit 220 of thecomputing device may not be dependent on a human operator, and that thecontrol circuit 220 of the computing device may be programmed to performsuch functions without a human operator. In some embodiments, the userinterface 236 is integral with the other components of the computingdevice, e.g., the computing device is a laptop computer with integrateddisplay 237 and inputs 239 (e.g., keyboard, mousepad). And in someembodiments, the user interface 236 is separated from the othercomponents of the computing device, e.g., the computing device is adesktop or tower computer to which the display 237 and inputs 239 (e.g.,keyboard/mouse) are connected.

With reference to FIG. 2B, an exemplary server (e.g., server 112 b) 112b configured for use with exemplary systems and methods described hereinmay include a control circuit 240 electrically coupled via a connection242 (e.g., a bus, etc.) to a memory 244 and via a connection 246 (e.g.,a bus, etc.) to a power supply 248. As noted above, the control circuit240 can comprise a fixed-purpose hard-wired platform or can comprise apartially or wholly programmable platform, such as a microcontroller, anapplication specification integrated circuit, a field programmable gatearray, and so on.

The control circuit 240 can be configured (for example, by usingcorresponding programming stored in the memory 244 as will be wellunderstood by those skilled in the art) to carry out one or more of thesteps, actions, and/or functions described herein. In some embodiments,the memory 244 may be integral to the processor-based control circuit240 or can be physically discrete (in whole or in part) from the controlcircuit 240 and may be configured to non-transitorily store the computerinstructions that, when executed by the control circuit 240, cause thecontrol circuit 240 to behave as described herein. (As used herein, thisreference to “non-transitorily” will be understood to refer to anon-ephemeral state for the stored contents (and hence excludes when thestored contents merely constitute signals or waves) rather thanvolatility of the storage media itself and hence includes bothnon-volatile memory (such as read-only memory (ROM)) as well as volatilememory (such as an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM))).Accordingly, the memory 244 may be referred to as a non-transitorymedium or non-transitory computer readable medium.

The control circuit 240 of the server may be also electrically coupledvia a connection 250 to a network interface 252 that can receive signalsfrom, for example, the central computer 112/112 a, mobile device 120,server 122, etc., and/or from another electronic device of the system100. The input/output 232 of the computing device 118 can also sendsignals to other devices, for example, interface units, encoder units127, etc.

The control circuit 240 of the exemplary server shown in FIG. 2B may beelectrically coupled via a connection 253 to a UI interface 254 thatprovides a user of the server with the ability to run the irrigationcontrol application 114 d to monitor and/or control the irrigationcontrol system 116 as will be described in more detail below. It will beappreciated that the performance of such functions by the controlcircuit 240 of the server may not be dependent on a human operator, andthat the control circuit 240 of the server may be programmed to performsuch functions without a human operator.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram of a mobile device 120 (e.g., example mobiledevices 120 a-120 e), according to some embodiments. The mobile device120 may be used for implementing any of the functionalities describedherein. By way of example, the mobile device 120 may comprise a controlcircuit 202 (e.g., processor), memory 204, and one or more communicationbus 206 (e.g., links, paths, interconnections, or the like). Someembodiments may include one or more internal and/or external powersources or supplies 210. The control circuit 202 can be implementedthrough one or more processors, microprocessors, central processingunit, logic, local digital storage, firmware, software, and/or othercontrol hardware and/or software, and may be used to execute or assistin executing the steps of the processes, methods, functionality andtechniques described herein, and control various communications,decisions, programs, etc. Further, in some embodiments, the controlcircuit 202 can be part of control circuitry and/or a control system,which may be implemented through one or more processors with access toone or more memory 204 that can store commands, instructions, code andthe like that is implemented by the control circuit 202 and/orprocessors to implement intended functionality. In some applications,the control circuit 202 and/or memory 204 may be distributed over acommunications network (e.g., LAN, WAN, Internet) providing distributedand/or redundant processing and functionality.

In one embodiment, the memory 204 of the mobile device 120 stores dataand executable code, such as an operating system 205 and an application207. The application 207 is configured to be executed by the mobiledevice 120 (e.g., by the control circuit 202). The application 207 canbe a dedicated application (e.g., an application dedicated to monitoringand/or controlling an irrigation system 116), a general purposeapplication (e.g., a web browser, etc.), and/or a dedicated applicationlinking a general purpose application such as a browser to a userinterface transmitted by a central computer or remote server.Accordingly, the application 207 is representative of all types ofapplications that may be resident on or run by the mobile device 120(e.g., software preinstalled by the manufacturer of the mobile device,software installed by an end user (which may be a mobile app or aninternet browser app), software installed by a vendor (e.g., irrigationcompany), etc.). In one embodiment, the application 207 operates inconcert with the operating system 205 when executed by the controlcircuit 202 to cause actions to be performed by the mobile device 120.For example, with respect to the disclosure contained herein, executionof the application 207 by the processor of the control circuit 202causes the mobile device 120 to perform actions consistent with themanaging (e.g., monitoring and/or controlling) of the irrigation system116. In some embodiments, the application 207 includes at least a partof the irrigation management application referred to herein. And in someembodiments, to the extent a browser function which is part of theapplication 207 or the operating system 205 in receiving commands, code(Java Script) and data to provide a user interface, such browserfunction can be considered part of the irrigation management applicationreferred to herein.

The user interface 208 of the mobile device 120 can allow a user tointeract with the system 100 and receive information through the system100. In some instances, the user interface 208 includes a display device211 (e.g., display screen, etc.) and/or one or more user input device209 (e.g., buttons, touch screen, track ball, keyboard, mouse, etc.),which can be a part of, or wired, or wirelessly coupled with the mobiledevice 120. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2C, the mobile device 120further includes one or more communication interfaces, ports, and/ortransceivers 212 and the like, allowing the mobile device 120 tocommunicate over a communication bus, a distributed computer and/orcommunication network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN), etc.), other wired or wireless networks or communicationchannels with other devices and/or other such communications orcombination of two or more of such communication methods.

Further, the transceiver 212 can be configured for wired, wireless,optical, fiber optical cable, satellite, or other such communicationconfigurations or combinations of two or more of such communications.Some embodiments include one or more input/output (I/O) ports 214 thatallow one or more devices to couple with the mobile device 120. The I/Oports 214 can be substantially any relevant port or combinations ofports, such as but not limited to USB, Ethernet, or other such ports.The input/output 214 can be configured to allow wired and/or wirelesscommunication coupling to external components. For example, theinput/output 214 can provide wired communication and/or wirelesscommunication (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, LoRaWAN, cellular, RF,and/or other such wireless communication), and in some instances mayinclude any known wired and/or wireless interfacing device, circuitand/or connecting device, such as but not limited to one or moretransmitters, receivers, transceivers, or combination of two or more ofsuch devices.

The mobile device 120 is an example of a control and/or processor-basedsystem with a control circuit 202. Again, the control circuit 202 can beimplemented through one or more processors, controllers, centralprocessing units, logic, software and the like. Further, in someimplementations the control circuit 202 may provide the processorfunctionality. The memory 204, which can be accessed by the controlcircuit 202, typically includes one or more processor-readable and/orcomputer-readable media accessed by at least the control circuit 202,and can include volatile and/or nonvolatile media, such as RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory and/or other memory technology. Further, while thememory 204 is shown as internal to the mobile device 120, the memory 204can be internal, external or a combination of internal and externalmemory. The external memory can be substantially any relevant memorysuch as, but not limited to, solid-state storage devices (SSDs) ordrives, hard disk drives (HDDs), one or more of universal serial bus(USB) stick or drive, flash memory secure digital (SD) card, othermemory cards, and other such memory or combinations of two or more ofsuch memory, and some or all of the memory may be distributed atmultiple locations over a computer network. The memory 204 can storecode, software, executables, scripts, data, content, lists, programming,programs, log or history data, user information, irrigation systeminformation, and the like. While FIG. 2C shows various components beingcoupled together via a bus 206, it is understood that the components mayactually be coupled to the control circuit 202 and/or one or more othercomponents directly.

The following description relates to various user interface (UI) andprogramming features provided by the software of irrigation managementapplication 114 a-114 d, which, as mentioned above, can be installed onand executed by, for example, a central control computer/server, acloud-based server, a stand alone computing device (e.g., desktop,laptop, etc.), and a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, tablet, etc.)using an irrigation application.

In several embodiments, an irrigation management application isconfigured to cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to auser, the user interface including a map of a geographic region thatincludes at least one irrigation area. In some embodiments, variousinformation is caused to be displayed together with the map. In someembodiments, the map includes imagery, such as aerial image data,whereas in some embodiments, the map is line-based and is a rendering ofthe a geographic region.

With reference to FIG. 3A-3C, in some embodiments, a user interface 300is caused to be displayed by the irrigation management application 114a-114 d to a user and shows a map 305 of a landscape including portionsto be irrigated (referred to herein as an “irrigation area”) by anirrigation system 116. As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, such a map 305 may showthe landscape (buildings, roads, cars, grass, trees, bushes, etc.) aswell as the locations of various components of the irrigation system116, such as irrigation stations 310 (e.g., a station being anirrigation valve).

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 a-114 ddisplays the map 305 of a geographic region including the irrigationarea within the user interface 300 using satellite imagery, but othertypes of maps (e.g., street view, terrain, etc.) may be used. In theembodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3B, whether the map 305 is displayedon a computer (FIG. 3A) or on a mobile device (FIG. 3B), the software ofthe application 114 a-114 d is configured to cause the user interface300 to show the map 305 with a pin 320 indicating the location of theuser (in particular, the location of the computer 118 or mobile device120 of the user) viewing the map 305. This feature can be particularlyhelpful when the user is mobile and moves around the irrigation area onthe map 305 while using a mobile device 120. That is, as shown in FIG.3B, the user is able to easily see the location of the user (representedby the pin 320) on the map 305 relative to the irrigation components(such as irrigation station 310) located in the irrigation areadisplayed on the map 305. Notably, the landscape features (i.e., golfcourse, as well as buildings, parking lot, roads/driveways, andsurrounding area) shown in FIGS. 3A-3C are shown by way of example only,and the map 305 displayed within the user interface 300 may be a map ofa commercial area, residential area, park, crop fields, etc.

With reference to FIG. 3C, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 a-114 d creates a user interface 300 with amap 305 that shows not only the location of a mobile device 120 of theuser, but also shows the accuracy of the location of the mobile device120 of the user on the map 305 by way of a geometric shape 330 (in thiscase, a circle) surrounding the location icon 320 representing thelocation of the mobile device 120 of the user. In some aspects, theapplication 114 a-114 d represents the accuracy of the physical locationof the user's mobile device 120 via the size of the geometric shape. Inother words, in one aspect, the more accurate the location determinationof the user's mobile device 120 is, the smaller the shape 330 would be,and the less accurate the location determination of the user's mobiledevice 120, the larger the shape 330 would be. It will be appreciatedthat the geometric shape defining the accuracy of the location of themobile device 120 is shown as a circle by way of example only, and thatany geometric shape other than a circle (which may be unshaded or shadedin a selected color) may be used instead. In some embodiments, theaccuracy of the estimated location of the user's mobile device 120 isdetermined using GPS location data sent from the mobile device 120 ofthe user sent to the application 114 a-114 d (and, in some aspects, viathe application, to the central computer 112, 112 a, or to the cloudserver 112 b).

It is noted that a pin 320 representing the location of a given user,such as a user operating a mobile device 120, may be caused to bedisplayed on any of the maps of the user interfaces described herein. Insome embodiments, it can be helpful for the user to see the user'sposition on the map relative to the other data and features shown on themap.

FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of an exemplary user interface 400 causedto be displayed by the irrigation management application 114 thatdisplays a map 405 of an irrigation area indicating the location on themap of the irrigation stations (represented on the map by the stationicons 410, 412, 414). In some embodiments, the user interface 400 may begenerated and caused to be displayed by one or more of the variousirrigation management applications 114 described herein by one or moreof the various devices (e.g., central computer 112, cloud server 112 b,computing devices 118, mobile devices 120, and so on). It is noted thatgenerally, when referring to the irrigation management application,reference is made to any of the various embodiments of irrigationmanagement application as described herein.

In some embodiments, the user interface 400 displays the station icons410, 412, 414 in a way that they visually indicate (i.e., to a userviewing the user interface) an operational status (e.g., on or off,amount of irrigation run time left in the cycle, malfunction alert,etc.) and/or informational status (e.g., name, type of nozzle, pressure,voltage, etc.) associated with the irrigation stations of the irrigationsystem 116 that correspond to the station icons 410, 412, 414. Forexample, in some aspects, the application 114 a varies the shape and/orcolor of the station icons 410, 412, 414 representing a given irrigationstation to show whether the irrigation station corresponding to a givenstation icon 410, 412, 414 is on or off.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the station icon 410 for irrigationstation 3G4 visually indicates (in one example, via being colored inwith a predetermined color (e.g., blue, indicated by cross hatch fill))that this irrigation station is currently on, while the station icon 412for irrigation station 3G1 visually indicates (e.g., by being clear (nofill) as shown in FIG. 4 , or by being colored in with anotherpredetermined color) that this irrigation station is currently off.While the station icon 410 may visually indicate via a color that theirrigation station 3G4 is actively irrigating, in some embodiments(shown in the expansion window 411 of FIG. 4 ), the station icon 410 isan animated image (e.g., GIF or the like) that toggles between a smallercircle and a larger circle filled with the “on” color (indicated by thefill of the icon circle) to visually indicate a pulsing motion and drawthe user's attention to the irrigation station 3G4 that is currentlyactive. More generically, the station icon can be made to display as ananimated image that changes between different sizes to indicate theoperational status as being on.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 causesthe user interface to be displayed so that the map 405 that the stationicons provide a visual indication that the station is working properlyor malfunctioning, e.g., the visual indication shows alerts associatedwith their corresponding irrigation stations. For example, in someaspects, the irrigation management application 114 can vary the shapeand/or color of the station icon 410, 412, 414 representing a givenirrigation station, or includes a symbol within the station icon to showthat there is an alert associated with the corresponding irrigationstation.

In the exemplary user interface 400 shown in FIG. 4 , station icon 414for irrigation station 3G5 may be shaded in with a predetermined color(e.g., red, indicated by a different cross hatch fill than icon 410)and/or may include a symbol (e.g., exclamation sign) to visuallyindicate that there is an alert (e.g., a possible malfunction or anyother anomaly) for this irrigation station. For example, if theirrigation station 3G5 corresponding to the station icon 414 failed adiagnostic test, or if one or more sensors of the irrigation system 116detects an alert condition (e.g., the detected line or device voltage atthe irrigation station 3G5 is too low, etc.), the station icon 414visually displays an alert for the irrigation station 3G5 (as shown inFIG. 4 ). In some embodiments, the user interface can overlap aninformational field 420 proximate the alert condition to brieflyindicate the condition leading to the alert status. In some embodiments,the field 420 is displayed along with the station icon 414, and in someembodiments, the field 420 is hidden until the user clicks on or hoversover (e.g., using a pointer or touch) the station icon 414 which thenreveals the field 420. In certain aspects, the visual alerts indicatedby the station icon 414 within the interface 400 of FIG. 4 are alsoviewable in log reports that may be accessed by a user of the computer,mobile device, etc. via the irrigation management application. However,such log reports are presented in separate interfaces and disconnectedfrom any map views. In some embodiments, it can be helpful for a user tobe viewing the user interface while at the site to see the alert and/oroperational status and get visual confirmation of location.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 is usedto monitor various diagnostics, operational attributes, and/or otherinformation associated with the various components of the irrigationsystem 116. For example, the exemplary user interface 500 of FIG. 5Adisplays diagnostics (e.g., in table format) of various informationrelating to operational status of the irrigation stations of theirrigation system 116 deployed in a given irrigation area. Generally,the user interface 500 may display information including but not limitedto line voltage, flow rate, water pressure, etc. measured (by one ormore sensors) in association with the irrigation stations of theirrigation system 116. In the illustrated embodiment, the exemplary userinterface 500 shows that the operational attributes and/or status of 17irrigation stations were tested, and that 16 out of 17 irrigationstations passed the diagnostic test, while only one of the irrigationstations did not pass the diagnostic test. In one aspect, in addition tothe general information indicating how many irrigation stations passedthe diagnostic test and how many irrigation stations failed thediagnostic test, the user interface 500 visually indicates the specificirrigation station (in this example, 3G5) that did not pass thediagnostic test, and also shows various information (e.g., physicallocation of the irrigation station, reason for the alert at theirrigation station, type of interface of the irrigation station, etc.).It will be appreciated that the information shown in association withthe irrigation station 3G5 in the user interface 500 has been shown byway of example only, and that, in some embodiments, the user interface500 may be configured to show additional or different informationassociated with the irrigation station 3G5.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 isconfigured to permit users (e.g., of various devices such as computingdevice 118, mobile devices 120, etc.) to define various operationalattributes of irrigation stations, and to define the values ofoperational thresholds for these operational attributes that willtrigger an alert, which would then be displayed to the user via theirrigation management application 114. For example, the user may definean operational attribute such as the nominal line or device voltage thatshould be measured at the stations, and specify minimum and maximumthresholds that, if exceeded, would trigger an alert. Once defined, theuser may cause the irrigation management application 114 to run adiagnostic test on all or selected irrigation stations of the irrigationsystem 116. After the diagnostic test is completed, in some embodiments,the report shown in FIG. 5A and discussed above is displayed within theuser interface 500 and shows the results of the diagnostic test. Aspointed out above, the report shown in FIG. 5A reflecting the results ofa voltage test at the irrigation stations of the irrigation system 116visually indicates 16 irrigation stations passed and 1 irrigationstation failed, station 3G5, and the station 3G5 may be associatedwithin the interface 500 with an alert icon 512 (which may be, forexample, a triangle with an internal exclamation sign as shown in FIG.5A) visually indicating that the irrigation station 3G5 failed thediagnostic test.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a portion of the user interface 502 may show aportion of the map 505 of a geographic region including the irrigationarea that contains the irrigation station 3G5 that failed the diagnostictest. In the exemplary user interface 502 illustrated in FIG. 5B, on themap 505, the station icon 514 for the irrigation station 3G5 that failedthe diagnostic test visually indicates the alert. For example, in FIG.5B, the station icon 514 for station 3G5 is displayed in a color that isindicative of an alert (e.g., red, yellow, etc., see FIG. 4 ). Inaddition, as shown in FIG. the user interface 502 may include aninformational field 520 overlaying a portion of the map, with thisinformational field displaying to the user the reason for the alert, inthis case, the reason being that a voltage that was below theuser-defined minimum threshold was measured at the irrigation station3G5 during the diagnostic test.

With reference to FIG. 6A, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 may be operated to cause the display of auser interface 600 on a display of a user's electronic device thatdisplays a visual indication of an informational attribute and/or avalue for one or more operational parameters of an irrigation stationcorresponding to a station icon. For example, an informational attributemay include user-defined diagnostics/test results in real-time on themap 605 of a geographic region including the irrigation area displayedwithin the user interface 600. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment,the user interface 600 displays informational fields 620, 622, 624 thatvisually indicate values of the measured voltages and pressures at theirrigation stations corresponding to the station icons 610, 612, and614, respectively. It will be appreciated that the informational fields620, 622, 624 are shown in FIG. 6A as displaying voltages and pressuresby way of example only, and that the user interface 600 may display anyother user-defined operational parameters and/or informationalattributes (e.g., measured flow volume/rate, nozzle type, locationinformation, geo-location information, elevation relative to sea levelof the irrigation stations, etc.) associated with the irrigationstations corresponding station icons 610, 612, 614.

In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the user interface 600 is configuredsuch that the informational fields 620, 622, 624 that displayoperational parameters (e.g., voltage and pressure) of the irrigationstations are displayed on the map 605 adjacent their correspondingirrigation station identifiers 3G4, 3G2, and 3G5 and the station icons610, 612, 614 to assist the user in visually identifying (andtroubleshooting) any possible operational issues. In some embodiments,the user interface 600 may be configured such that the informationalfields 620, 622, 624 are not always visible on the map 605 as shown inthe exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6 , but only appear on the map 605 inresponse to a user manually selecting (e.g., tapping on, clicking on,hovering over with a mouse, etc.) a given one of the station icons 610,612, 614. And in some embodiments, the informational fields 620, 622,624 are included in a layer superimposed on the map 605, where the layercan be user selected to be hidden or shown.

Referring next to FIG. 6B while also referring to FIG. 6A, an electronicdevice is shown in accordance with some embodiments that stores map datadownloaded from a wide area network in memory to be retrieved fordisplay on a user interface without having to access a remote source forthe map, such as in the event an active network connection is notavailable. In some embodiments, to display a map of a geographic regionincluding the irrigation area within the interface on an electronicdevice 120, the irrigation management application 114 obtains (e.g.,receive via a wide area network, such as network 124) aerial map imagerycorresponding of the portion of the irrigation area from a map server(also referred to herein as a map service server) 650 (and optionallycauses this aerial map imagery to be downloaded and locally stored tothe memory 204 of the mobile device 120). The irrigation managementapplication 114 may be operated to subsequently display the userinterface 660 including a map layer 662 (e.g., the map layer 662 caninclude the aerial map imagery) of the irrigation area without requiringthe electronic device (e.g., mobile device 120, computer 118, server 122and/or other such electronic devices) operated by the user to have anactive connection to the network 124, e.g., when the computer 118 or themobile device 120 is offline and unable to download the map (e.g., froma map service server) over a network.

For example, in one aspect, the imagery of the irrigation area, mayinclude and/or be configured as a map layer 662 that includes the map ofthe irrigation area 605. The irrigation management application 114and/or a remote server can further generate and/or access irrigationcontrol layer information that identifies geographic locations ofirrigation components (e.g., valves, sprinklers, sensors, etc.) and/oroperational status information for the one or more irrigation componentsthat correspond to the irrigation area 605. This irrigation componentinformation and/or status information can be used by the irrigationmanagement application 114 and/or remote server to generate one or moreirrigation control layers 664, which can be superimposed on one moregeographically corresponding map layers 662. For example, an irrigationcontrol layer 664 can include virtual graphical representations and/orimages of the station icons 610, 612, 614 corresponding to theirrigation stations associated with the irrigation area 605. The mapand/or map layer obtained from a map service server 650 or the like, andthe one or more irrigation control layers 664 may be stored in a memory204 of the mobile device 120 to speed up the display of the map 605 bythe user interface 600. In one aspect, the memory 204 of the mobiledevice 120 includes a buffer memory 656 that permits temporary storageof data, and this buffer memory 656 can temporarily store the aerial mapimagery received from the map service server 650. In some embodiments,the irrigation management application 114 can cause the map 605 and/ormap layer 662 to additionally or alternatively be stored in non-volatilememory 654 for longer term storage. As such, the electronic device(e.g., mobile device 120) could rely on the map 605 and/or map layer 662already stored in its memory 204 without having to access the map server650 (e.g., when the network connection is down and/or unavailable)and/or could take advantage of an active network connection to downloada new map 605, such as to update the map and/or when there have beenchanges to the map 605. This feature can help in situations when, forexample, the mobile device 120 is in a location having poor cellphone/Wi-Fi coverage or limited connectivity, or if the mobile device120 of the user does not have network access (e.g., Internet access) ordoes not have the Internet access functionality. The software candisplay the locally saved map and/or one or more map layers 662, andwhen relevant simultaneously graphically render one or more irrigationcontrol layers 664 to identify one or more irrigation components,component status information and/or other relevant information asdescribed above and below overlayed on the displayed map layer withouthaving to access the map server 650 and download the map.

In some embodiments, by retrieved the pre-stored map imagery/map layer,in addition to being able to provide map services when there is nonetwork connection, the speed for rendering the user interface with themap is improved, particularly when network connection speeds are low(such as at a location of the irrigation site having poor networkcoverage). In some embodiments, the irrigation management application isconfigured to look first to internal memory to load the map layer ratherthan attempt to retrieve the map layer from the map server. In someembodiments, this can reduce charges for map calls from the map server.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 providesan option displayed through the user interface to allow the user todownload the map and/or the map tiles for one or more maps and/orimagery corresponding of the portion of the irrigation area 605 from themap service server 650. FIG. 6C illustrates a simplified representationof an exemplary map source menu 680 displayed by the irrigationmanagement application 114. The exemplary map source menu 680 can, insome implementations, be a dropdown menu displayed in response to aselection and/or a hovering over a certain option icon. In otherimplementations the map source menu 680 is displayed while a map isrendered. In some embodiments, the map source menu 680 includes one ormore map source options 681 that correspond to different sources of mapsand/or map tiles from which the user can select. In some embodiments,the map source menu 680 includes a download map tiles option 682 thatcan be activated to cause one or more maps and/or map tiles to bedownloaded to the electronic device (e.g., mobile device 120). Forexample, the selection of the download map tiles option 682 can causethe irrigation management application 114 to identify a current map tilebeing displayed, and communicate with the map source server to identifythose map tiles associated with and/or within a threshold geographicdistance and/or area of the displayed map tile. FIG. 6D illustrates anexemplary download confirmation option 683 identifying a number of maptiles to be downloaded and one or more options (e.g., an option toinitiate the download 684 and an option to decline the download 685).

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 canprovide feedback and/or confirmation of the downloading. FIG. 6Eillustrates a simplified representation of the exemplary map source menu680 with a download indicator 686 (e.g., a graphical bar representing anamount downloaded and/or remaining amount to download, a percentage 687downloaded, and/or other indicators) confirming downloading and/or astatus of the downloading. In some embodiments, the map source menu 680can further include a delete option 690 that when activated causes oneor more downloaded tiles and/or downloaded maps to be deleted from thelocal memory 204 of the electronic device.

In some embodiments, described in more detail below with reference toFIGS. 7A-7M, the irrigation management application 114 is configured togenerate a user interface that causes a multi-station selector featureto be displayed to the user and that permits a user to select irrigationstations and display an interactive control menu overlaid on a portionof the map to allow a control selection to be applied to each of theselected irrigation stations selected. In some embodiments (e.g., asshown in FIG. 7A), the user interface includes one or moreindependently-selectable portions (e.g., represented by polygons in FIG.7A) of the irrigation area, and the interactive control menu allows theuser to select, monitor and/or control one or more irrigation stationsassociated with the selected polygon (e.g., located within the shape ofthe polygon, or otherwise located near the shape of the polygon but thatare controlled similarly to those stations within the shape, e.g., thestation is physically outside of the polygon but causes irrigationwithin the polygon). In some embodiments, each polygon may represent aportion of the irrigation area that contains plant life of a similartype (e.g., trees, bushes, etc.). In other embodiments, each polygon mayrepresent a portion of the irrigation area that represents a plant-freesection (e.g., bunker of a golf course, etc.) of the irrigation area705.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7A, the exemplary user interface700 allows the user to select a polygon 720, which can be created asdescribed in more detail below, and which represents a portion of thearea of the map of the irrigation area 705 (also referred to herein asmap 705), and then to make one or more control selections that allow theuser to manage (e.g., monitor, control, etc.) various aspects of thedevices (e.g., interface units 126, encoder units 127, decoders 128,satellite controllers 130, valves, sensors, etc.) of the irrigationsystem 116 associated with the user-selected polygon 720. In someaspects, the user interface 700 permits the user to select a polygon720, which effectively selects all devices (e.g., irrigation stations,etc.) of the irrigation system 116 located in the polygon 720, andpermits the user to manage (e.g., monitor, control, etc.) all devicesassociated with the polygon 720. Devices associated with the polygon caninclude those devices physically within the periphery or shape of thepolygon on the map of the irrigation area 705 as well as device that arelocated outside of the periphery or shape of the polygon 720 but in someway associated with the area represented by the polygon, such as rotors,valves, encoders that are outside of the polygon but cause irrigation tooccur within the polygon.

In the example user interface 700 shown in FIG. 7A, the user hasselected (e.g., by tapping, clicking, hovering over, etc.) the areadefined by polygon 720 (i.e., area called Hole 3-Approach), in responseto which the user interface 700 has generated and displayed aninteractive control menu 722, which is displayed within the userinterface 700 as being overlaid on a portion of the map 705. Thisinteractive control menu 722 generated by the user interface 700 isshown in FIG. 7A with exemplary control selections (e.g., pause, resume,start, stop, advance, calculate area, edit shape, add shape, draw shape,remove, edit), but it will be appreciated that the user interface 700may be configured to include additional or different control selections.In some aspects, the control menu 722 permits the user to manuallyselect an operational command such as “Start” 724 within the controlmenu 722, and such a selection by the user would cause all irrigationstations associated with the polygon 720 to start watering. By the sametoken, the control menu 722 provides the user with the ability to selectother operational commands such as Pause, Resume, Stop, and such aselection would cause all irrigation stations associated with thepolygon 720 to either stop, pause, or resume watering.

Notably, some of the control selections of the control menu 722 may notbe configured to directly control the devices of the irrigation system116 associated with the polygon 720. For example, control selection 725permits the user to calculate the area of the user-selected polygon 720,and control selection 726 permits the user to manually adjust theoverall size/shape of the polygon 720. In some embodiments, in responseto a selection by the user of the “Edit Shape” 726 control selection inthe control menu 722 in FIG. 7A, the user interface 700 displays thevarious points 728 defining an exterior boundary (i.e., perimeter orperiphery) of the polygon 720 on the map 705 as shown in FIG. 7B. In theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 7B, each of the points 728 lying on theperimeter of the polygon 720 can be selected by the user and moved(e.g., by dragging via a finger, computer mouse, etc.) to re-define theoverall shape of the polygon 720 and the overall size of the areaenclosed by the polygon 720. It will be appreciated that the individualpoints 728 defining the perimeter of the polygon 720 do not necessarilyhave to be visible within the interface 700 as shown in the exampleprovided by FIG. 7B, and that the perimeter of the polygon 720 may bevisible as a continuous line, and the user may readjust the overallshape/size of the polygon 720 by tapping/clicking on portions of theline and moving portions of the line inwardly/outwardly toreduce/increase the overall size of the polygon 720 and the areaenclosed by the polygon 720.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 mayprovide the user with a user interface including the map pre-dividedinto independently-selectable polygons 720 defining variously-shapedareas on the map 705. These pre-defined polygons may be provided by theirrigation management application 114 using a tool that automaticallydetects changes in the imagery of a map or automatically detectsfeatures in the map (e.g., fairways, greens) based on other line-basedillustrations or maps and creates selectable polygons within the map. Inother embodiments, users can edit the periphery of existing shapes(pre-defined or edited shapes) to create updated or custom shapes (suchas shown in FIG. 7B). In other embodiments, users can add generic-shapepolygons (square, rectangle, circle, oval, triangle, trapezoid) and editthe periphery (e.g., using an “Add Shape” 760 control selection, seeFIGS. 7A and 7C-7G) to manipulate a generic-shaped polygon by a userinto a desired custom-shaped polygon. In other embodiments, the user canuse a drawing tool to draw a custom-shaped polygon (e.g., using a “DrawShape” 762 control selection, see FIGS. 7A and 7G).

In some circumstances, pre-defined or existing polygons 720 provided bythe irrigation management application 114 may not fully cover auser-desired area of the map 705, which may have a regular geometricshape (e.g., rectangle, circle, square, etc.) or an irregular geometricshape. To address this, in some configurations with reference to FIGS.7C-7F, the irrigation management application 114 can provide an optionto add a shape, e.g., by selecting the “Add Shape” 760 control selectionof FIG. 7A which will activate a drawing tool 764, such as ageneric-shape polygon 770 which may appear over a portion of the map705, and which permits the user to manually create a custom-shapepolygon 720 a having an overall size and shape selected by the user, andthis custom-shape polygon 720 a can then be selected by the user asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 7A.

As shown in FIGS. 7C-7F, each of the points 774 lying on the lines 772representing the perimeter of the polygon 770 can be selected by theuser and moved (e.g., by dragging via a finger, computer mouse,directional arrows, etc.) to re-define the overall shape of thegeneric-shape polygon 770 and the overall size of the area enclosed bythe polygon 770. After the user utilizes the drawing tool 764 tomanipulate the polygon 770 into a shape that is acceptable to the user(see FIG. 7E), the user may cause the drawing tool 764 to disappear fromview within the interface, causing the final custom-shape polygon 720 athat was drawn/created by the user using the drawing tool 764 to becomevisible on the map of the irrigation area 705 within the user interface.

While FIGS. 7C-7F show the drawing tool 764 as providing a generic-shapepolygon 770, the perimeter of which is defined by lines 772 having aplurality of points 774 (which may be circle-shaped as shown,square-shaped, etc.), in some embodiments, the drawing tool 764 may omitthe enlarged points 774 and may be in the form of a continuous line 772that defines the perimeter of the polygon 770. In such embodiments, theuser may readjust the overall shape/size of the polygon 770 bytapping/clicking on portions of the line 772 and moving portions of theline 772 inwardly/outwardly to reduce/increase the overall size of thepolygon 770 to create the custom-shape polygon 720 a. In theseembodiments, the user can create any custom desired shape for whichcontrol and/or other operations may be selected from the interactivecontrol menu.

In some embodiments, the user may create a custom-shape polygon using afree-from drawing tool. For example, in some embodiments, using a “DrawShape” 762 control selection (see FIG. 7A), the user is provided apencil/finger drawing tool that the user can manipulate to draw a closedpolygon having a desired shape. In this way, the user can controlmovement of a pointer (e.g., via a mouse, finger, etc.) to draw and savethe custom-shape polygon 720 a.

FIG. 7G shows an exemplary custom-shape polygon 720 a having a customshape defined by the user, along with the corresponding interactivecontrol menu 722 having various control selections available to the userthat pops up within the interface 700 when the user manually selects(clicks, taps, hovers over, etc.) the polygon 720 a. This custom-shapepolygon 720 a could be the resulting shape from an edit of thepre-defined polygon 720 of FIG. 77B, the result of the edit of ageneric-shape polygon 770 of FIGS. 7C-7H, or the result of a free-formdrawn polygon. In some embodiments, any of these custom-shape polygonscan be saved and selected again by the same or different user.

With reference to FIGS. 7H-7M, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 provides the user with an interactive userinterface 730 that shows a map 705 of an irrigation area and permits theuser to use a multi-station selector feature that allows the user toselect multiple station icons 732 corresponding to irrigation stationsfrom the displayed map 705 of the irrigation area to create or select agroup of irrigation stations, which then permits the user to make acontrol selection and cause a control and/or other operation to beexecuted for the irrigation stations associated with the station icons732 in the user-selected group. For example, the exemplary multi-stationselector feature is shown as a multi-station select tool 733 in FIG. 7H,which when activates, allows a user to pick a user-desired number ofstation icons 732 corresponding to irrigation stations of the irrigationsystem 116 deployed in the irrigation area, and to then manage (e.g.,monitor, control, etc.) such irrigation stations directly from the map705 of the irrigation area (e.g., to cause those irrigation stations toirrigate for a user-selected period of time or to stop irrigating, or toadjust the operational parameters of the irrigation stations, etc.).

Notably, while a user's selection of a polygon 720, 720 a of FIGS. 7A,7C may cause the selection of all station icons 732 associated with thepolygon, in some aspects, the multi-station select tool 733 permits theuser to select irrigation station icons 732 that are within or outsideof any given polygon or area on the map 705. In other words, the userinterface 730 may be configured in some embodiments such that stationicons 732 can be selected independent of any shape formed with or by theuser selected station icons 732.

The exemplary user interface 730 shown in FIG. 7H displays a map 705 ofthe irrigation area to the user, and the map includes imagery (e.g.,aerial imagery) of the irrigation area with graphics overlays showingeach irrigation station icon 732 (shown as a circle). In the exemplaryinterface shown in FIG. 7H, and depending on the zoom level of the map705, at least some station icons 732 display an exemplary identifier,name, or label of the corresponding irrigation station label, e.g., 1F5(Hole #1, Fairway, Station #5 on a golf course). Notably, while theexemplary user interface 730 shows aerial imagery of an irrigation areacomprising portions of a golf course, it will be appreciated that theuser interface 730 may display a map of any irrigation landscape otherthan a golf course. It is also understood that station identifiers mayor may not be displayed adjacent station icons depending on the zoom ofthe map and available space to display the information to the user.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7H, when a user viewing the userinterface 730 desires to select multiple irrigation station icons 732 onthe map 705 of the irrigation area to manage operation or view status orother information associated with the irrigation stations associatedwith the user-selected station icons, the user interface 730 providesthe user with the interactive multi-station select tool 733, which maybe, for example, an interactive icon, and the user may select themulti-station select tool 733 in FIG. 7D by clicking or tapping on theicon for the tool 733.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7I, the user's interaction with themulti-station select tool 733 of the user interface 730 causes the userinterface 730 to display an interactive control menu overlaid on aportion of the map or adjacent the map. In FIG. 7I, the interactivecontrol menu is illustrated as a control panel 734 (that includesvarious control selections that permit the user to, for example, start,stop, pause, and result irrigation) and a selected stations icon 735(indicating how many station icons 732 were selected by the user). Theuser is then permitted to click or tap on one or more of the stationicons 732 on the map 705 of the irrigation area to select them. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 7I, responsive to a selection by the user ofthe station icon 732 (corresponding to irrigation station 1F11), theuser interface 730 generates a graphical element 736 associated with thestation icon 732 to visually indicate that the station icon 732 has beenselected by the user, e.g., a circle outline or border around theselected station icon 732. Notably, in some embodiments, the exemplaryuser interface 730 is configured such that, while using themulti-station select tool 733, the user is permitted to unselect apreviously user-selected irrigation station (e.g., 1F11) individuallyfrom the map 705 of the irrigation area (e.g., by selecting, clicking,tapping, or hovering over the selected station icon 732 corresponding tothe irrigation station 1F11).

FIG. 7I shows that the graphical element 736 associated with theselected station icon is in the form of a circle that surrounds thestation icon 732, with the circle being in a color that is distinct from(could be visually lighter than or visually darker than) the color ofthe station icon 732 (to make it easier to see for the user whichstation icons 732 have been selected). Alternatively, in some aspects,instead of generating the graphical element 736 around the user-selectedstation icon 732, the user interface 730 may be configured to change thecolor of the user-selected station icon 732 to make this icon 732 appearvisually distinct from the color of the station icons that have not beenselected by the user. In other embodiments, the graphical element 736can be positioned nearby or adjacent the selected station icon 732.

Since the exemplary user interface 730 shown in FIG. 7I displays ascenario, where only one irrigation station icon 732 was selected by theuser after interacting with the multi-station select tool 733, the userinterface 730 of FIG. 7I displays a selected stations icon 735 thatvisually displays to the user the number of station icons 732 selectedby the user thus far. In the illustrated embodiment, the selectedstations icon 735 appears as a small number 1 in a circle at the upperright corner of the selected stations icon 735 (which itself mayvisually change from a check mark inside a circle as shown in FIG. 7H toa return key arrow-like symbol as shown in FIG. 7I) to indicate that oneirrigation station icon 732 (i.e., the icon for station IF11) has beenselected by the user. It will be understood that the color and thelocation of the selected stations icon 735 is shown by way of exampleonly, and that the selected stations icon 735 may be in a differentcolor or colorless, may appear at any other location within the userinterface 730, and may spell out the word “One” instead of showing thenumber “1” corresponding to the user-selected number of irrigationstation icons 732.

In the exemplary interface 730 shown in FIG. 7J, five irrigation stationicons 732 (corresponding to irrigation stations 1F11, 1F8, 1BU2, 2T6,and 2T3) have been selected by the user. Notably, the identifiers of theirrigation stations, e.g., 1F11, 1F8, etc. may be selected to visuallyindicate to the user a location type on the map where the irrigationstation is located and a sequential number assigned to the irrigationstation within the location type. For example, in one embodiment, wherethe irrigation area covers portions of a golf course, and there are 12irrigation stations installed on the fairway of hole 1, an irrigationstation may be assigned the identifier 1F11 (shown in FIG. 7J), with the1 indicating “hole 1,” F indicating “fairway” (G could indicate “green,”B could indicate bunker, T could indicate tee area, etc.), and 11indicating that this irrigation station is “number 11.”

As can be seen in FIG. 7J, each of the user-selected five station icons732 has the graphical element 736 (akin to the graphical element 736described with reference to FIG. 7H) associated therewith to visuallyindicate that the station icon 732 has been selected by the user. Asmentioned above, the graphical element 736 surrounding a user-selectedstation icon 732 may be a distinctly-colored circle or ring (or anothergeometric figure) to visually indicate the station icons 732 that havebeen selected by the user. In addition, since FIG. 7J shows that theuser has selected five station icons 732, the selected stations icon 735of the exemplary user interface 730 now has the number 5 in the circle,visually indicating to the user that the user has selected fiveirrigation icons 732 using the multi-station select tool 733.

It will be appreciated that, in some aspects, the user interface 730 mayinclude station icons 732 that were selected by the user, but which arelocated on a portion of the map 705 of the irrigation area that is notvisible in the current exemplary view provided in FIG. 7J (e.g.,depending on the zoom selected by the user and/or position of the map).For example, the user may only see 5 station icons selected in the viewdepicted in FIG. 7J, but the actual number of the station icons 732selected by the user may be greater than 5 (e.g., 8, 11, etc.) and thenumerical value displayed by the selected stations icon 735 could begreater than 5 (e.g., 8, 11, etc.), visually indicating to the userthat, in addition to the 5 station icons 732 visible in the current viewshown in FIG. 7J, there are 3, 6, or more other additional selectedstation icons 732 that are located outside of the current view (in someaspects, the user interface 730 permits the user to move to otherportions of the map 705 of the irrigation area by swiping orpinching/expanding the map).

As mentioned above, a user's interaction with the multi-station selecttool 733 of the user interface 730 causes the user interface 730 todisplay an interactive control panel 734 that includes various controlselections that permit the user to control operation of the irrigationstations associated with the user-selected irrigation station icons 732.The exemplary control panel 734 of the user interface 730 shown in FIG.7J may include interactive icons/buttons such as Start (represented bythe triangle shape), Stop (represented by the square shape), Pause(represented by two parallel lines), and Resume (represented by avertical line adjacent a triangle), but it will be appreciated thatadditional or alternative icons/buttons may be used instead.

In the illustrated embodiment, when the user selects the Start icon 737control selection in the control panel 734 displayed in FIG. 7J, theuser interface 730 responds by causing a duration panel 738 to appear,as shown in FIG. 7K. The exemplary duration panel 738 sub-menu of FIG.7K may include inputs 739 a (e.g., up-down, plus-minus buttons/icons,number entry fields, etc.) to allow the user to select the duration(hours, minutes, seconds) of irrigation by the five irrigation stationscorresponding to the user-selected station icons 732. In the exampleshown in FIG. 7K, the user has defined that each of the five selectedstations will run for 9 minutes of watering, after which the user canuse input 739 b within the duration panel 738 sub-menu to either clickCANCEL to cancel the Start operation, or click OK to execute the Startcontrol command for the five irrigation stations selected by the user.

In some embodiments, after the user selects the input 739 b within theduration panel 738 to initiate the watering by the five user selectedirrigation stations 1F11, 1F8, 1BU2, 2T6, and 2T3, the control circuitof the central computer 112 a, 112 b (or other controlling element inthe system such as irrigation controller 140, for example) may determinewhich of these five irrigation stations can be turned on at the sametime based on the current water pressure and capacity, and send acontrol signal to all five or selected ones of the five user-selectedirrigation stations to cause them to start watering. In some cases, theirrigation system 116 may not run all five user-selected irrigationstations at the same time if there is not enough pressure or capacity todo so, and FIG. 7L shows an example of such a situation, where stations1F11, 1F8, 1BU2, 2T6 were activated to water, and irrigation station 2T3was not. The exemplary interface 730 of FIG. 7L visually indicates tothe user all five irrigation stations selected for activation by theuser by displaying all five irrigation stations in a color that isdifferent from the color of the irrigation stations that were notselected by the user for activation.

In the illustrated embodiment, the icons for all four irrigationstations 732 (i.e., 1F11, 1F8, 1BU2, and 2T6) that are turned on are nowshown in the user interface 730 in the active state (which may berepresented by a distinct color, blue, green, etc. (shown by differentcross-hatching), as well as by an animated icon that toggles/pulsatesbetween a larger size and a smaller size (such as described in FIG. 4 ),the one irrigation station (i.e., 2T3) that is activated by not yetturned on is shown in a color that is distinct from the color (shown bya different cross-hatching) of the station icons not selected by theuser and from the color of the user selected station icons 732 that arecurrently irrigating. Notably, in the illustrated embodiment, now thatthe user-selected irrigation stations are activated and the userinterface 730 shows which of the user-selected irrigation stations areactively watering, the user interface 730 of FIG. 7L again displays themulti-station select icon 733, permitting the user to select one or moreother groups of irrigation station icons 732, and to make controlselections for their respective irrigation stations.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 7M, responsive to the userselecting the multi-station select icon 733 in FIG. 7L, which wouldpermit the user to select another group of station icons 732 and controlthe operation of their respective irrigation stations, the userinterface 730 displays the selected stations icon 735 with the numberzero in the circle to visually indicate that zero station iconsselections have been made in the current station icon group. Notably,while the user is using the multi-station select tool 733 to select oneor more station icons 732 for the second station icon groups, allirrigation stations that are actively watering are still shown withinthe interface 730 to visually indicate that they are actively watering.For example, as described above, the station icons 732 for theirrigation stations of the first group that are currently watering maybe shown in the interface 730 in a distinct color (e.g., blue, green,etc.) that visually indicates that they are active watering, or by wayof an animated image that may show the station icons 732 as pulsating(i.e., toggling between larger and smaller size) to visually indicatethat the corresponding irrigation stations are actively watering. It isnoted that the exemplary screen shots of FIGS. 7H-7M are screen shots ofa mobile irrigation management application 114 for managing theirrigation system 116 (which may be displayed to a user of a mobiledevice 120), but, in some embodiments, a user interface for managing anirrigation system 116 with similar views, control panels, and menuselections may be presented to a user within a web browser on a computerscreen (e.g., the display of a user's computer).

It is noted that in many of the user interfaces presented herein, mapsare shown of portions of geographic areas that include portions of anirrigation area. It is understood that the various views illustrated arefor exemplary purposes, and that a user can manipulate the map views tozoom in on an area in more detail, or to back out to view a larger areaand/or to move to other portions of the irrigation area. Suchmanipulation of map interfaces is well known and can be implementedthrough user movements (mouse clicks, finger taps/pinches, etc.). Insome embodiments, some displayed features may be viewed depending on thezoom levels.

Referring next to FIGS. 8A and 8B, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 causes a user interface 800 to be displayedfor user illustrating a map of the irrigation area and allows a user toadd imagery such as third party imagery as a layer (e.g., background ormiddle layer) overlaid on/superimposed with the map imagery of a maplayer and any icons/labeling the different layers (e.g., irrigationcontrol layer/s). For example, the exemplary user interface 800 shown inFIG. 8A is a line drawing including a map layer 840 (indicated withoutcross hatching), a supplemental image layer 842 (shown with variouscross hatch fills), an irrigation control layer 844 showing informationitems. The various layers 840, 842 and 844 are superimposed over eachother such that each layer is at least partially generally visible.Generally, the layers 842 and 844 are overlaid on the map layer 840. Insome embodiments, the supplemental image layer 842 is configured to beat least partially transparent and overlaid on/superimposed with the maplayer 840 so that the imagery of the map layer 840 is viewable throughthe supplemental image layer 842. And in some embodiments, theirrigation control layer 844 is overlaid on the both the layers 840 and842, such that the information and control items (icons, symbols, text,etc.) are opaque and block the layers underneath; however, such itemsare not large enough to hide the underlying layers. FIG. 8B is a colorphotographic image of a larger segment of the view of FIG. 8A. The viewof FIG. 8B is provided to illustrate the various layers without crosshatch fill. In some embodiments, the map layer 840 comprises aerial mapimage data, and can be obtained from a third party map service provider.

In some embodiments, the irrigation control layer 844 may comprise oneor more different layers having different icons, symbols, text. Forexample, the irrigation control layer 844 may illustrate station iconsand location icons (e.g., a number identifying a location, such as hole15). In some embodiments, location icons may include a pin 320 or otherindicator of a location of a user's mobile device. In certain aspects,the irrigation control layer/s may include one or more additionaldiagnostic or informational data layers (e.g., including operationalstatus and/or alerts associated with the components of the irrigationsystem 116), or other information such as landscape elevation relativeto sea level, age groups, skill levels, preferences, etc. of golfers onthe golf course corresponding to the irrigation area.

In some embodiments, the supplemental image layer 842 may be provided bya third party or by the user. The supplemental image layer may be animage layer visualizing data using different colors such as shown inFIG. 8B (and represented by various different cross hatch sections onthe layer 842 in FIG. 8A.) In some cases, the supplemental image layer842 may be obtained from a third party data provider. Third party imagelayers 142 that could be included within the exemplary interface 800include but are not limited to aerial drone footage providing plantstress or a heat map, pedestrian (e.g., golfer, hiker, etc.) foottraffic in the irrigation area (e.g., golf course, park, etc.). Forexample, such data can be provided by the United States Golf Association(USGA) which can use devices to track golfer movements. And the datarepresented by the supplemental image layer may be indicated indifferent colors. For example, in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the supplementalimage layer 842 indicates ground temperatures measured from the air,with warmer temperatures indicated in orange/red and cooler temperaturesindicated in greens and blues.

Referring next to FIG. 9A, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed, is configured to cause a userinterface 900 to be displayed that includes a map 905 of the irrigationarea and shows station icons 950, 952, 954, 956, 958, 960 correspondingto irrigation stations of the irrigation system 116. In this embodiment,the user interface 900 is configured to display the station icons 950,952, 954, 956, 958, 960 in such a way that the station icons 950, 952,954, 956, 958, 960 visually indicate an operational status and/oroperational attributes and/or informational status/attributes of theirrigation stations corresponding to the station icons 950, 952, 954,956, 958, 960. In some embodiments, the exemplary user interface 900shown in FIG. 9A can alter the coloring, shading or highlighting of thestation icons 950, 952, 954 to indicate and/or differentiate certainattributes of these station icons.

For example, in FIG. 9A, station icons 950, 952 and 954 are displayed onthe map 905 of the irrigation area 905 such that they are visibly ofdifferent colors or, in this example, such that they are of differentshades of one color (different shades of a color indicated as havingcross hatching), e.g., light blue (station icon 950), medium blue(station icon 952) and dark blue (station icon 954. This color variationof the station icons 950, 952, 954 may correspond to a programmingaspect associated with the irrigation stations corresponding to thestation icons 950, 952, 954, such as a run time percentage adjustment.For example, the lightest shade of the color assigned to station icon950 may visually indicate that a run time of the correspondingirrigation station was adjusted by 10-70% relative to the original runtime (represented by 100%), the medium shade of the color assigned tothe station icon 952 corresponds to a run time adjustment of 70-130%,and the darkest shade of the color assigned to the station icon 954corresponds to a run time adjustment of 130-200%. It will be appreciatedthat run time adjustment is just one example of an operational attributethat may be visually indicated by a color or shade of a color of thestation icons 950, 952, 954, and that other operational or informationalattributes associated with the station icons 950, 952, 954 may besimilarly displayed.

FIG. 9A also shows that in some embodiments, the user interface 900 mayshow similar operational or informational attributes by way ofdifferently-colored highlighting (e.g., a circle, ring, etc.) formedaround the station icons 956, 958, 960. For example, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 9A, the station icons 956, 958, 960 can be visuallyidentical (e.g., executed in the same color), but have a differentlycolored periphery shape to indicate an operational status orinformational attribute of the respective station (e.g., green, yellow,orange circle-shaped highlighting surrounding the station icons 956,958, 960, again indicated using different cross hatch fill). In anembodiment where this highlighting surrounding the station icons 956,958, 960 indicates a run time adjustment applied to the correspondingirrigation stations, for example, a green-colored circle about stationicon 956 may visually indicate that a run time of the correspondingirrigation station was adjusted by 10-70% relative to the original runtime, the yellow-colored circle about the station icon 958 correspondsto a run time adjustment of 70-130%, and the orange-colored circle aboutthe station icon 960 corresponds to a run time adjustment of 130-200%.It will be understood that the colors and geometric shapes shown in FIG.9A are shown by way of example only, and that other colors and geometric(or irregular) shapes may be used instead.

Referring next to FIG. 9B shows a user interface 900 according toanother embodiment, where the user interface 900 is configured todisplay the station icons such that the visibly indicate a location typein the map 905 of the irrigation area where they are located. In otherwords, in some embodiments, all station icons 962 may visibly indicate(e.g., by way of all being displayed in an identical color, shape, etc.relative to each other) that they are located in a first location type(e.g., a green of a golf course), while all station icons 964 mayvisibly indicate (e.g., by way of all being displayed in an identicalcolor, shape, etc. relative to each other but different from the color,shape, etc. of the station icons 962) that they are located in a secondlocation type that is different from the first location type (e.g., afairway of a golf course). To put it another way, in someimplementations, the user interface 900 may display the station icons962 in a first color (e.g., green) or a first shade of a given color(e.g., light blue) or a first shape (e.g., circle) to indicate that thestation icons 962 are all located within a first location type (e.g.,golf course green, residential area backyard, etc.) while at the sametime displaying the station icons 964 in a second color (e.g., blue) ora second shade of the given color (e.g., dark blue) or a second shape(e.g., square) to indicate that the station icons 964 are all locatedwithin a second location type different from the first location type(e.g., golf course fairway, residential area side walk, etc.). In theillustrated embodiment, the station icons 962 are shown with a firstcross hatch fill to indicate the same color/shade/shape, and the stationicons 964 are shown with a second cross hatch fill to indicate adifferent same color/shade/shape.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 24 and 25 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed, may be configured to cause auser interface 2400 to be displayed to a user, the user interface 2400including a map 2405 of an irrigation area and visually displaysirrigation station icons based on their respective physical locations inthe irrigation area. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 24 , the userinterface 2400 is configured such that each of the irrigation stationicons displayed on the map 2405 of the irrigation area is interactiveand is programmed such that, in response to a user either clickingon/tapping/selecting or simply hovering over (e.g., with computer mouse,etc.) a displayed station icon 2449, the user interface 2400 generatesand displays an interactive irrigation station control panel 2450 thatincludes various informational data, operational indications, and/orcontrol selections associated with the irrigation station (in this case,1F6) corresponding to the user-selected station icon 2449.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 25 , the exemplary control panel2450 may include one or more of the following combination of attributesare displayed together: (1) a remaining watering time countdown 2452visually indicating a remaining watering time for the irrigation station(in this case, irrigation station 1F6); (2) a remaining watering timegraphical indicator 2454 (e.g., icon) that graphically indicates theremaining watering time out of a total run time for the irrigationstation 1F6; (3) a dry run forecast 2456 of the estimated time durationof the next watering event for the irrigation station 1F6 given allknown operational attributes and/or adjustments; (4) a last runindicator 2458 showing the date and time of the last watering eventassociated with the irrigation station 1F6; (5) a sprinkler typeindicator 2460 that indicates a type of one or more sprinklers used bythe irrigation station 1F6 associated with the station icon 2449 (e.g.,integrated valve in head sprinkler or sprinklers downstream of thestation); and (6) an active adjustments indicator 2462 showing allactive operational attribute adjustments that apply to a watering eventexecuted by the irrigation station 1F6. It will be appreciated that theinformational and operational attributes shown in the control panel 2450of FIG. 25 are shown by way of example only, and that, in otherembodiments, the control panel 2450 may be configured to displayadditional and/or alternative operational or informational attributesassociated with the irrigation station 1F6. For example, in someembodiments, the last run indicator 2458 indicates a last manual orscheduled run. In some embodiments, the last run indicator 2458 can bealternatively labeled as “Last Irrigated” and include manual orscheduled irrigation, and list the date and time of the last irrigationas well as the run time of the last irrigation.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of the user interface 2400 illustrated inFIG. 25 , the control panel 2450 includes an irrigation station or zonename indicator 2464 and a nozzle type indicator 2466. In some aspects,the nozzle type indicator 2466 may be displayed in a color (or aspecific shade of a color) and a geometric (or irregular) shape (e.g., ablue circle) specific to a particular nozzle type to visually indicateto the user that the irrigation station 9P4 uses this particular nozzletype. In FIGS. 24 and 25 , cross hatch fill is used to indicate a colorof the nozzle type indicator 2466. The indication of the specific nozzletype of the irrigation station 1F6 by the nozzle type indicator 2466 isadvantageous since, as is well known, the nozzle type of a sprinkler ofan irrigation station will dictate the water throw distance andapplication rate. Additionally, in the illustrated embodiment, thecontrol panel 2450 may include various interactive operational controls(e.g., Start (depicted by the triangle), pause (depicted by two verticallines), resume (depicted by a vertical line and a triangle, stop(depicted by a square), etc.), and these operational controls may bepressed, clicked, tapped, etc. by the user to cause the irrigationstation 1F6 to operate according to the operational control selected bythe user within the control panel 2450.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 25 , the remaining watering timegraphical indicator 2454 visually indicates the remaining watering timeof the irrigation station 1F6 in relation to a visualization of thetotal watering time of the irrigation station 1F6. For example, as shownin FIG. 25 , the full circle 2455 represents the total watering time forwhich the irrigation station 1F6, whereas the shaded or colored portion2457 (indicated with a fill) indicates the remaining watering time. InFIG. 25 , the colored portion 2457 is approximately one-third of thefull circle 2455 to visually indicate to the user that that abouttwo-thirds of the watering run time by the irrigation station 1F6 hasoccurred and that one-third of the total watering time for which theirrigation station 1F6 was activated remains. When viewed side by sidewith the countdown 2452 showing 00:32:49 (i.e., zero hours, 32 minutes,49 seconds) remaining, the user can visualize that the full cycle wasapproximately 90 minutes.

It will be appreciated that instead of showing a full circle with aportion of it shaded or colored as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 25 ,the remaining watering time graphical indicator 2454 may indicate theremaining watering time relative to the total watering time in analternative way, for example, by showing another geometric shape (e.g.,a bar-graph like rectangle that is approximately one-third filled in bya color or shading, or by explicitly stating as follows: “Remaining Timeis 00:32:39 of total 00:90:00.”

It is noted that users of prior central control products may be able toobtain at least some of the data viewable in the control panel 2450, butwould have to navigate multiple different data menus in differentportions of the user interface. In some embodiments, the control panel2450 aggregates this useful data in one convenient location directlyviewable by the user via the map interface and assists the user invisualizing the data while in a map view of the area.

Next referring to FIG. 26 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 is configured to cause a user interface 2600to be displayed to a user, the user interface 2600 including a map 2605of an irrigation area and visually displays to the user certain types ofdata and status directly from the map view of the user interface 2600.This data and/or status of the irrigation stations associated with thestation icons displayed on the map 2605 of the irrigation area can befound in various menus of the irrigation management application 114 a,but is conveniently visually displayed to the user directly from the mapview.

In the embodiment of FIG. 26 , the user interface 2600 is configuredsuch the station icon visually indicates a nozzle type of one or moresprinklers controlled by the irrigation station corresponding to thestation icon. For example, a color of a portion of the station icons2662, 2664, 2666 displayed on the map 2605 of the irrigation areavisually indicates the specific nozzle type of one or more of thesprinklers controlled by the irrigation stations (e.g., 9P3, 9P2, and9G2, respectively) that correspond to the station icons 2662, 2664,2666. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, it can be advantageousfor the user to see the specific nozzle type of the irrigation stationswithin the user interface 2600 because it is well known that differentnozzle types dictate water throw distance and application rate. In otherwords, knowing the specific type of nozzle type of an irrigation stationby looking at the station icons 2662, 2664, 2666 can permit the user ofthe user interface 2600 to make decisions regarding the components anduse of the components of the irrigation system 116.

In the exemplary user interface 2600 shown in FIG. 26 , an inner portionof the station icons 2662, 2664, 2666 are displayed on the map 2605 ofthe irrigation area in different colors (for example, blue, red andyellow, indicated by different cross hatch fills) that visually indicatethat the station icons 2662, 2664, 2666 correspond to irrigationstations having three different types of nozzles. In someimplementations, the user may know which color corresponds to whichnozzle type, or the correlation of the station icon color to nozzle typemay be explicitly shown within the user interface 2600 (e.g., if theuser selects or hovers over the colored portion of the station icons2662, 2664, 2666), or the correlation of the station icon color tonozzle type may be explicitly stated in an instruction manual for theirrigation management application 114 running on the electronic deviceof the user. In some embodiments, instead of being displayed in threedifferent colors, the station icons 2662, 2664, 2666 are displayed indifferent shades (e.g., lighter, darker, darkest) of the same color(e.g., blue, green, etc.), with each of the different shades of thecolor representing a specific nozzle type of the correspondingirrigation station.

As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 27 , the user interface 2700 may beconfigured to display, directly from the map 2705 of the irrigationarea, a unique identifier 2764 of the irrigation station (in this case,9P4) corresponding to the station icon for an irrigation station that isactively watering. Further, directly displayed on the map 2705 andadjacent to the station icon is a remaining watering time countdown 2752indicating the remaining run time. And in some embodiments, the stationicon is displayed as including a remaining watering time graphicalindicator 2754 similar to that shown in the exemplary control panel 2450shown in FIGS. 24-25 .

For example, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 27 , the station iconis represented as the remaining watering time graphical indicator 2754which visually indicates the remaining watering time of the irrigationstation 9P4 in relation to a visualization of the total watering time ofthe irrigation station 9P4. In FIG. 27 , a full circle 2755 (which maybe shaded/unshaded, colored/uncolored, etc.) represents the totalwatering time for which the irrigation station 9P4 is to run, whereasthe shaded/unshaded, colored/uncolored portion 2757 indicates theremaining watering time of the irrigation station 9P4. In the example ofFIG. 27 , the portion 2757 is approximately one-third of the full circle2755 to visually indicate to the user that that about two-thirds of thewatering run time by the irrigation station 9P4 has occurred and thatone-third of the total watering time for which the irrigation station9P4 was activated remains. When viewed side by side with the countdown2752 showing 00:32:21 (i.e., zero hours, 32 minutes, 21 seconds)remaining, the user can visualize that the full watering cycle of theirrigation station 9P4 was approximately 90 minutes. Similar to thatdescribed in FIG. 25 , the remaining watering time graphical indicator2754 can be displayed with other geometric shapes (e.g., a bar-graphlike rectangle that is approximately one-third filled in by a color orshading.

With reference to FIG. 28 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed, is configured to cause a userinterface 2800 to be displayed to a user and that includes a map 2805 ofan irrigation area and visually displays to the user the station icons2832 corresponding to irrigation stations associated with the irrigationarea. Additionally, the user interface 2800 provides visual markersassociated with station icons, the visual markers that indicating thatan operational parameter of the irrigation station corresponding to thestation icon has been adjusted relative to a scheduled operationalparameter. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 28 , the user interface2800 displays visual markers embodied as adjustment symbols 2866, 2868,2869, 2870, 2872, 2874 in association with (e.g., displayed adjacent toor nearby) each station icon 2832 that has an operationalparameter/attribute adjustment.

The exemplary adjustment symbols 2866, 2868, 2869, 2870, 2872 areillustrated in FIG. 28 in the form of one or two or three (more is alsopossible in some embodiments) upwardly-pointing or downwardly-pointingsymbols, which are shown by way of example as being in a chevron shape,but could alternatively be up/down arrows, plus or minus symbols, waterdrops, etc. These adjustment symbols 2866, 2868, 2869, 2870, 2872 may bevisible in the user interface 2800, or may become visible in response toa user clicking, tapping, selecting, or hovering over the station icons2832 respectively associated with the adjustment symbols 2866, 2868,2869, 2870, 2872. In certain aspects, instead of or in addition to usingone, two, three, or more graphical upwardly/downwardly pointingadjustment symbols 2866, 2868, 2869, 2870, 2872, the user interface 2800may include an informational field that displays the operationaladjustment and/or the value (or value range) of the operationaladjustment.

Those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are avariety of operational parameter adjustments that can be applied to agiven irrigation station, for example, one or more of temporary adjust,station adjust, weather adjust, seasonal adjust, and so on. In someembodiments, these operational parameter adjustments are often definedas percentage values relative to scheduled operational parameters forthe irrigation stations, where 100% is the normal unadjusted operationalparameter, values less than 100% represent a scaled reduction of thescheduled operational parameter (e.g., irrigation run time, etc.) andvalues greater than 100% represent a scaled increase of the scheduledoperational parameter (e.g., run time). For example, in embodiments,where the operational attribute/parameter being adjusted is run time ofan irrigation station and assuming an unadjusted run time is representedas 100%, an adjustment of 80% would cause the irrigation station towater for 80% of the scheduled run time, and an adjustment of 130% wouldcause the irrigation station to water for 130% of the scheduled runtime.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 28 , the graphical adjustmentindicator symbols 2866, 2868, 2869, 2870, and 2872 visually show whichirrigation stations (in this case, irrigation stations 9A15, 9A17, 9F25,9A18, 9F16), have operational attribute adjustments. In particular, inthe example provided in FIG. 28 , upward pointing symbols (e.g., 2866,2868, 2869) indicate an operational parameter adjustment of greater than100% relative to the scheduled operational parameter, and downwardpointing symbols (e.g., 2870 and 2872) indicate an operational parameteradjustment of less than 100% relative to the scheduled operationalparameter. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, a singleupwardly-pointing/downwardly-pointing symbol (e.g., symbols 2866 or2872) indicates a first level of positive/negative adjustment and adouble upwardly-pointing/downwardly-pointing symbol (e.g., symbols 2870,2872) indicates a second and greater level of positive/negativeadjustment, and a triple upwardly-pointing/downwardly-pointing symbol(e.g., symbol 2869) indicates a third and greater level ofpositive/negative adjustment. In some embodiments, a single(upwardly-pointing or downwardly-pointing) chevron symbol corresponds toadjustment of up + or −20% of the scheduled run time, whereas a double(upwardly-pointing or downwardly-pointing) chevron symbol corresponds toadjustment of more than + or −20% of the scheduled run time, and atriple (upwardly-pointing or downwardly-pointing) chevron symbolcorresponds to adjustment of more than + or −50% of the scheduled runtime. It is understood that these +/−thresholds are exemplary and mayhave different values depending on the use. In some embodiments, the+/−threshold defining the display of a single, double, or triple chevronsymbol may be set or adjusted by the user such as an administrator ofthe irrigation management application 114. In some embodiments,additional levels of adjustment can be shown using visual markers.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 28 , the user interface 2800may visibly display, on the map 2805 of the irrigation area, a visualmarker such as graphical symbol 2874 associated with (e.g., adjacent to)a given station icon 2832 corresponding to an irrigation station (inthis exemplary case, irrigation station 9F21), with this symbol 2874visually indicating that the run time of the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon is adjusted to zero (0%) such that theirrigation station is inactive and no watering will occur by thisstation. In the illustrated embodiment, the graphical symbol 2874 isrepresented as a crossed-out water drop, but could be any variety ofsuitable symbols. In other words, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 28 ,the graphical element 2874 located adjacent to station icon 2832corresponding to irrigation station 9F21 visually indicates to the userviewing the map 2805 that the run time of the irrigation station 9F21has been adjusted to zero, such that no irrigation will occur atirrigation station 10T21.

With reference to FIGS. 10A-10C, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed by an electronic device causesa user interface 1000 to be displayed that includes a listing ofirrigation stations of an irrigation area that displays to the uservarious data relating to various characteristics or attributes of thecomponents of the irrigation system. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 10A, the exemplary user interface 1000 displays a listing ofirrigation stations of an irrigation area, permitting a user to selectone or more irrigation stations, control the selected irrigationstations, and/or to sort the irrigation stations based on theiroperational parameters. In FIG. 10A, the listing is in table format thatincludes rows and columns of the data, user-selected attributes of theirrigation system and provides various data views and reports for users.This data is helpful to assess the health of the irrigation system 116and/or make adjustments if needed.

In the user interface 1000 according to the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 10A relating to an irrigation system installed on a golf course,data is presented in table format with multiple columns each definingdifferent data types and then multiple rows each corresponding to agiven irrigation station, hole, area, etc. Similar to spreadsheets,these data tables may be sorted, filtered and/or searched. For example,when a Stations view 1072 is selected, FIG. 10A shows an exemplary userinterface 1000 that displays a listing 1070 of irrigation stations,e.g., as a table, that provides various data (e.g., informationalattributes, operational attributes, etc.) for the irrigation stations,with the listing 1070 in the illustrated example having been sorted byirrigation station run time (as a result of the userselecting/tapping/clicking on interactive sort icon 1074) in ascendingorder. This type of sorting allows the user to easily see various usefulinformation within the user interface 1000, for example, that someirrigation stations (in this example, irrigation stations 3A9, 3A10, and4G1) have a run time of zero minutes and are thus not scheduled foractive irrigation.

The listing 1070 of the exemplary user interface 1000 of FIG. 10A alsoincludes a status icon (e.g., status icons 1075, 1076, 1077) associatedwith each of the irrigation stations in the listing 1070. These statusicons allow the user to visually see within the user interface 1000whether an irrigation station associated with the status icon isoperating normally or malfunctioning. In the example shown in FIG. 10A,each of the irrigation stations in the listing (i.e., 3A9, 3A10, 1G1,1G2, etc.) is illustrated with a status icon 1075 (e.g., a circle with acheck mark) that indicates that these irrigation stations are operatingnormally. If an irrigation station were associated with a malfunction oranother operational alert (e.g., low voltage, etc.), the user interface1000 could show status icon 1077 (e.g., a circle with an exclamationsign) such as shown for station 6G1. Other kinds of alerts or warningscould be indicated by status icon 1076 (e.g., a circle with a slash)such as station 4G1, which could indicate that this station is disabled.

In addition, the listing 1070 of the exemplary user interface 1070includes user modifiable irrigation station selection fields 1080 and1082 that permit the user to select one or more of the irrigationstations in the listing 1070. Notably, the user can select a givenstation in the listing 1070 by clicking on its respective irrigationstation selection field 1080 individually, and the user interface 1000can display each selected irrigation station with a check mark or otherfill inside the irrigation station selection box 1080. Alternatively toselecting individual irrigation stations via the irrigation stationselection fields 1080, the exemplary user interface includes a selectall option with irrigation station select field 1082, the selection ofwhich by the user causes all of the irrigation station selection fields1080 in the listing 1080 to become selected (with check marks or otherfill appearing in all of the station selection fields 1080 in thelisting 1070).

With reference to FIGS. 10A-10C, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed by an electronic device causesa user interface 1000 to be displayed that includes a listing ofirrigation stations of an irrigation area that displays to the uservarious data relating to various characteristics or attributes of thecomponents of the irrigation system. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 10A, the exemplary user interface 1000 displays a listing ofirrigation stations of an irrigation area, permitting a user to selectone or more irrigation stations, control the selected irrigationstations, and/or to sort the irrigation stations based on theiroperational parameters. In FIG. 10A, the listing is in table format thatincludes rows and columns of the data, user-selected attributes of theirrigation system and provides various data views and reports for users.This data is helpful to assess the health of the irrigation system 116and/or make adjustments if needed.

In the user interface 1000 according to the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 10A relating to an irrigation system installed on a golf course,data is presented in table format with multiple columns each definingdifferent data types and then multiple rows each corresponding to agiven irrigation station, hole, area, etc. Similar to spreadsheets,these data tables may be sorted, filtered and/or searched. For example,when a Stations view 1072 is selected (which is visually indicatedwithin the exemplary user interface 1000 via an underline appearingunder the word “Stations”), FIG. 10A shows an exemplary user interface1000 that displays a listing 1070 of irrigation stations, e.g., as atable, that provides various data (e.g., informational attributes,operational attributes, etc.) for the irrigation stations, with thelisting 1070 in the illustrated example having been sorted by irrigationstation run time (as a result of the user selecting/tapping/clicking oninteractive sort icon 1074) in ascending order. In some embodiments,similar interactive sort icons (shown in the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 10A in the form of upwardly-pointing arrows) may appear next to theother categories of the listing 1070 (e.g., Locations, Name, Status, ET,Adjust, Notes, etc.) to permit the user to easily sort any one of theseother categories. This type of sorting allows the user to easily seevarious useful information within the user interface 1000, for example,that some irrigation stations (in this example, irrigation stations 3A9,3A10, and 4G1) have a run time of zero minutes and are thus notscheduled for active irrigation.

The listing 1070 of the exemplary user interface 1000 of FIG. 10A alsoincludes a status icon (e.g., status icons 1075, 1076, 1077) associatedwith each of the irrigation stations in the listing 1070. These statusicons allow the user to visually see within the user interface 1000whether an irrigation station associated with the status icon isoperating normally or malfunctioning. In the exemplary user interface1000 shown in FIG. 10A, each of the irrigation stations in the listing(i.e., 3A9, 3A10, and 1G1-1G9) may be illustrated with a status icon1075 that could be in the form of a circle with a check mark thatvisually indicates that these irrigation stations are operatingnormally. In the illustrated embodiment, if an irrigation station wereassociated with a malfunction or another operational alert (e.g., lowvoltage, etc.), the user interface 1000 could show status icon 1077(e.g., a circle with an exclamation sign) such as shown for irrigationstation 6G1. The exemplary user interface 1000 may visually indicateother kinds of alerts or warnings by a status icon 1076 (e.g., a circlewith a slash) such as irrigation station 4G1, which could indicate thatthis irrigation station is disabled.

In addition, the listing 1070 of the exemplary user interface 1070includes user modifiable irrigation station selection fields 1080 and1082 that permit the user to select one or more of the irrigationstations in the listing 1070. Notably, the user can select a givenstation in the listing 1070 by clicking on its respective irrigationstation selection field 1080 individually, and the user interface 1000can display each selected irrigation station with a check mark or otherfill inside the irrigation station selection box 1080. Alternatively toselecting individual irrigation stations via the irrigation stationselection fields 1080, the exemplary user interface includes a selectall option with irrigation station select field 1082, the selection ofwhich by the user causes all of the irrigation station selection fields1080 in the listing 1080 to become selected (with check marks or otherfill appearing in all of the station selection fields 1080 in thelisting 1070).

The exemplary interface 1000 of FIG. 10A further includes an interactivecontrol panel 1073 that includes various control selections that permitthe user to control operation of the irrigation stations selected by theuser via the station selection fields 1080. The exemplary control panel1073 of the user interface 1000 shown in FIG. 10A may includeinteractive icons/buttons such as Start (represented by the triangleshape), Stop (represented by the square shape), Pause (represented bytwo parallel lines), and Resume (represented by a vertical line adjacenta triangle), but it will be appreciated that additional or alternativeicons/buttons may be used instead. The interactive icons/buttons of thecontrol panel 1073 permit the user to control irrigation by theirrigation stations selected by the user within the table 1070 of theuser interface 1000. In other words, when a user presses thetriangle-shaped Start button within the control panel 1073, allirrigation stations that are selected (i.e., the irrigation stationswith check marks in their station selection fields 1080) would beginactively watering their respective portion of the irrigation area.

FIG. 10B shows that, in some embodiments, the user interface 1100permits a user to filter the irrigation stations by name within thetable 1070. In this embodiment, the user interface 1000 is configured toinclude an interactive name filter feature 1076 that the user may select(e.g., by tapping/clicking/hovering over it). In the example shown inFIG. 10B, the irrigation stations listed in the table 1070 have beenfiltered by station name. In some embodiments, when the user selects theinteractive filter symbol 1076 for the name column, the user interface1000 displays a filter menu 1078. This filter menu 1078 permits the userto manually input the value by which the user intends to filter thenames of the irrigation stations, in this case the user intending toshow only irrigation stations having names starting with 1-1 (but, asshown in FIG. 10B, in some embodiments, the filter menu 1078 permits theuser to select an option that allows the user to filter the irrigationstations by names that start with and/or contain two user-specifiedcombination of characters (e.g., the user may list irrigation stationsthat start with 1-1 AND contain “A” to bring up the listing ofirrigation stations shown in FIG. 10B). When the user applies thisfilter via the filter menu 1078, the user interface 1000 responsivelylists in the table 1070 only irrigation stations with a name that meetsthe filter (in this exemplary case, irrigation station with namesstarting with 1-1 (while irrigation stations not meeting the filter suchas irrigation stations starting with 1-2, or with 2, or 3, etc. wouldnot be displayed).

FIG. 10C shows that, in some embodiments, the user interface 1100permits a user to search the irrigation stations by name within thetable 1070. In this embodiment, the user interface 1000 is configured toinclude an interactive location search feature 1078 that the user mayselect (e.g., by tapping/clicking/hovering over it). In the exampleshown in FIG. 10C, the displayed portion of the table 1070 showslocations of irrigation stations that were searched using theinteractive location search feature 1078. That is, the user intended tosearch for irrigation stations by irrigation station location. In theillustrated embodiment, the user selected the interactive search featuresymbol 1078 for the location column, in response to which the irrigationmanagement application displays the search menu 1080, where the user canmanually put in the characters representing the full name of a portionof the name of the location of the irrigation station, and the user ispermitted to either search for only those stations whose locationcontains 1G1 (as shown in FIG. 10C), or to use the AND/OR feature of thesearch menu 1080 to search for irrigation station locations that contain1G1 and/or contain another search parameter (in some embodiments, asub-menu 1079 of the location search feature 1080 may permit the user tochange the “Contains” parameter to “Starts With” parameter). As shown inFIG. 10C, a search as performed by the user using the search menu 1080would result in only the display of irrigation station locations meetingthe user-specified search criteria.

With reference to FIG. 11 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed, causes a user interface 1100that displays to the user a table of data 1170 relating to one or morecharacteristics of an irrigation system, wherein the data values aredisplayed in multiple colors such that each color represents a differentrange of the values of the data. In some embodiments, the data relatesto various characteristics or attributes of various components of theirrigation system, or to various characteristics or attributes of theirrigation system overall. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 ,the exemplary user interface 1100 displays user selectable attributes1120 and the table of data 1170 that includes rows and columns of thedata resulting from the user-selected attributes. In some embodiments,the data in the table 1170 can be shaded in multiple ways or highlightedmultiple colors to visually show to the user different numerical rangesof the data being displayed. Notably, the exemplary user interface 1100of FIG. 11 may be displayed like the other exemplary user interfacesdescribed herein.

The exemplary user interface 1100 shown in FIG. 11 is specificallyconfigured to display data specific to watering activity of irrigationdevices of the irrigation system in various areas of a golf course, butthe user interface 1100 could display data relating to the use of theirrigation system in any other landscape. In the example shown in FIG.11 , the table 1170 generated within the user interface 1100 isgenerated after the user selects the interactive tab/icon 1190 calledACTIVITY, which is one of the exemplary function choices that the userinterface 1100 permits the user to select, the other exemplary selectiontab/icon choices being COURSE, PROGRAMS, REPORTS, and SYSTEM SETTINGS.FIG. 11 also shows that the user has selected the activity selection tab1192 called “Completed” instead of the other available activityselection tab/icon choices called Dry run, Scheduled, Active, andEvents. In addition, FIG. 11 further shows that the user has selected tolist, via a drop down menu 1194, the time interval of the data ofinterest to the user, in this case 1 day, while specifying inuser-modifiable input fields 1196 that the 1 day is from 12:00 PM onJan. 31, 2022 to 11:59 AM on Feb. 1, 2022.

The exemplary table format-type course log depicted within the userinterface 1100 lists minutes of irrigation (run time) received byirrigation sub-areas (in this case T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7) locatedin the TEE area of the holes (only data for the first 7 holes is visiblein the view of FIG. 11 ) for a selected golf course (“Course Name” isselected by the user via a drop-down menu 1198). Also, the exemplaryinterface 1100 in FIG. 11 , the user has selected to display allirrigation sub-areas (.e., Tee, Fairway, Green, etc.) by selecting “All”from the drop-down menu 1199 (notably, due to screen-size limitations,only data pertaining to irrigation sub-areas T1-T7 located in the TEEarea of the holes of the user-selected golf course are visible in FIG.11 , while the data pertaining to irrigation sub-areas F1-Fn located inthe FAIRWAY area of the holes of the user-selected golf course, as wellas the data pertaining to irrigation sub-areas G1-Gn located in theGREEN area of the holes of the user-selected golf course, and any otherirrigation sub-areas of the user-selected golf course are not visible,but could be visible if the user scrolls further down within the table.In the illustrated embodiment, the table 1170 includes a data entry rowwhich, in this example, is designated by M1 (“M” may refer to“Miscellaneous”), and which permits the user to enter comments for anyof the manual run times listed in the table 1170.

The exemplary table 1170 presented in FIG. 11 indicates the number ofwatering minutes received by the irrigation sub-areas T1, T2, T3, T4,T5, T6, T7 during each of five separate watering events during theselected period (indicated by the corresponding numbers 1-5 in row 1175)during the user-selected period of time. That is, sub-area T1 received81, 70, 80, 10 and 10 minutes of watering over the 5 watering times thatday. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 , to visually distinguishthe different ranges of the numerical values representing the completedwearing times displayed in the table, the exemplary user interface 1100includes a color gradient that is applied to the data cells of the table1170 to visually indicate the numerical value difference. In the exampleshown in FIG. 11 , the darker the shading or the darker the colorapplied to a given data cell, the more minutes of watering were applied.In other words, in the illustrated embodiment, the data cells with thelightest shading (e.g., indicated with the cross hatch fill shown incell 1186) received 10 minutes of (i.e., the least) watering and thedata cells with the darkest shading of the same color (e.g., indicatedwith the cross hatch fill shown in cell 1180) received 81 and 91 minutesof (i.e., the most) watering. Similarly, starting from the lowestamounts of watering, the data cells with the next darker shade of thesame color (e.g., indicated with the cross hatch fill of cell 1184)received 50 minutes of watering. And the data cells with the next darkershade of the same color (e.g., indicated with the cross hatch fill ofcell 1182) received 70 minutes of watering. In this way, color is usedin the table to indicate various ranges of values of the data.

Notably, while the exemplary user interface 1100 shows that the tableassociates the darkest shade of a color with the highest numerical valuerange in the data cell and the lightest shade of the color with thelowest numerical value range in the data cell, in some embodiments, thiscould be reversed such that the darkest shade of a color is associatedwith the smallest numerical value range in the data cell and thelightest shade of the color with the highest numerical value range inthe data cell. As mentioned above, instead of darker/lighter shadingvariations, in some embodiments, the cells could be differentlyhighlighted (green to indicate a first numerical value range, yellow toindicate a second numerical value range, orange to indicate a thirdnumerical value range, etc.) to correspond to the numerical data valuesdisplayed in the table. In one aspect, the different colors of the datacells of the displayed data table have a first color (e.g., green, blue,etc.) that indicates that the data value displayed in the cell has beenincreased from a nominal value and the second color (e.g., yellow,orange, etc.) indicates that the data value displayed in the cell hasbeen decreased from the nominal value.

In some embodiments, colored data cells could be used to show increasesand decreases from nominal values. For example, a data cell may not showany color if the run time ran for the nominally scheduled run time, adata cell could be displayed in a first color that indicates that thedata value has been increased from the nominal run time (e.g., greaterthan 100%), and a data cell could be displayed in a second color thatindicates that the data value has been decreased from the nominal runtime (e.g., less than 100%). Further, in some embodiments, shading andor different colors may be used to show various data value ranges with adedicated color used to indicate that the data value is an outliervalue. For example, in the example user interface 1100, shading could beused to show the various data value ranges, and if for example, a givencell had a value of 200 minutes, such value could be seen as an outlierand colored in a dedicated color (such as red).

While run time is used as an exemplary characteristic with data valuesdisplayed, other characteristics and data value could be displayed withcolor indicating ranges. For example, in some embodiments, thecharacteristics can include at least one of an irrigation station runtime, an irrigation station water usage, and an irrigation station alertoccurrences and the values can include at least one of run times, numberof gallons used, number of inches of irrigation applied, number ofwatering passes applied, irrigation station voltage, irrigation stationpressure, irrigation station flow, irrigation station age/date code,precipitation rate, and number of irrigation station alerts. Likewise,in some embodiments, the characteristics and data value can relate to atleast one of an irrigation station or area run time, an irrigationstation or area water usage, a number of irrigation station or areawatering passes, an irrigation station voltage, an irrigation stationpressure, an irrigation flow, an irrigation flow rate, an irrigationcomponent age, an irrigation station precipitation rate, and a number ofirrigation station alerts.

As can be seen in FIG. 11 , the user interface 1100 according to severalembodiments provides the user with the ability to visually noticevarious watering patterns in the data of the irrigation system, in thisexemplary case, the user being able to see that there is more wateringby the irrigation station 116 at the beginning of the day as compared tothe end of the day. This use of color coding (or alternatively,highlighting) to reflect different numerical value ranges can be used tolook for various patterns in the programming and/or spot mistakes orinconsistencies in the programming.

With reference to FIG. 12 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 is configured to cause a user interface 1200to be displayed to a user, the user interface 1200 including variousinformational fields (which may be referred to herein as “data widgets”)relating to various attributes of an irrigation system of interest tothe user. For example, the exemplary interface 1200 shown in FIG. 12includes a map widget 1282 that displays a map 1205 of the irrigationarea where the irrigation system of interest to the user operates; aweather widget 1284 that may include informational fields to indicateweather information including, but not limited to current weatherconditions in the geographic area where the irrigation area is located,hourly forecast of the weather conditions in the irrigation area, dailyforecast of the weather conditions in the irrigation area, etc.; arecent activity widget 1286 that may display an informational fieldindicating data and/or alerts relating to recent irrigation events; anda water summary widget 1288 indicating, for example, a total number ofgallons used by the irrigation stations of the irrigation system in theirrigation area over a user-specified interval of time (7 days in theillustrated example). It will be appreciated that the widgets shown inthe user interface 1200 shown in FIG. 12 are shown by way of exampleonly, and that the user interface 1200 may include widgets additional oralternative to the widgets displayed in FIG. 12 .

In the exemplary user interface 1200 of FIG. 12 , the water summarywidget 1288 shows water usage data for one week showing the daily waterusage in terms of gallons used per day, and a total water usage for theweek (in this example, 4,137,925 gallons). While the water widget 1288shown in the exemplary user interface 1200 shows water usage over thecourse of 7 days, it will be appreciated that the water widget 1288 canbe configured to show data for other user-selected periods of time, suchas hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. In the illustrated embodiment,the water summary widget 1288 may display each of the individual daysfor which water activity is shown in association with a respectively bargraph representation indicating a total number of gallons used by theirrigation stations in the irrigation area daily during each one of thedays. In another embodiment, instead of displaying the water usage inbar graph format, the water widget 1288 may display the total waterusage with a numerical representation that indicates the total number ofgallons used by the irrigation stations in the at least one irrigationarea during each one of the displayed days.

Referring next to FIG. 13 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114, when executed by an electronic device, isconfigured to cause a user interface 1300 to be displayed to a user, theuser interface 1300 includes a listing of irrigation stations of anirrigation area, permitting a user to select one or more irrigationstations and view the active operational attribute adjustments for theselected irrigation stations.

In some embodiments, the user interface 1300 visually displays a listing(e.g., in a table) with data relating to system-defined or user definedadjustments to the operational attributes of the irrigation stations ofthe irrigation system. For example, in some embodiments, certainoperational attributes/programs/schedules of the irrigation stations ofthe irrigation system 116 that are originally defined may be adjustedeither manually (e.g., by a user) or automatically (e.g., by the controlcircuit 220 of the central computer 112 a). In order for the user toeasily see these system component attribute adjustments without lookingthrough multiple menus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13 , theexemplary user interface 1300 may include an active adjustment panel1390 that visually indicates to the user all active operationaladjustments for any one of the user-selected irrigation stations listedwithin the interface 1300.

The exemplary user interface 1300 of FIG. 13 displays a listing 1070that provides various data (e.g., informational attributes, operationalattributes, etc.) for the irrigation stations (identified in the listing1370 by their respective unique irrigation station identifiers). In theillustrated embodiment, the user interface 1300 includes a listing ofthe Run Time 1375 for each of the irrigation stations in the listing1070, and further includes an interactive active adjustments featureicon 1380 associated with the Run Time for each of the irrigationstations listed in the table 1370. This active adjustment icon 1080allows the user to visually see within the user interface 1300 thespecific adjustment or adjustments that have been made to the originaloperational parameters of the user-selected irrigation station.

In some embodiments, when the user interacts with an active adjustmenticon 1080, for example by hovering over it with a computer mouse 1382 asshown in FIG. 13 (or alternatively by clicking or tapping on the activeadjustment icon 1080), the user interface generates the activeadjustment panel 1390 and displays it (proximate the Run Time attributeand the active adjustment icon 1080 associated with a given irrigationstation) over a portion of the irrigation station listing within theuser interface 1300.

In some embodiments, the active adjustment panel 1390 illustrated inFIG. 13 displays information relating to the adjustments that were made(e.g., manually by the user or automatically by system) to the Run Timeof the user-selected irrigation station (in this exemplary case,irrigation station 1-1G1). The exemplary active adjustments that aredisplayed within the exemplary active adjustments panel 1390 of the userinterface 1300 of FIG. 13 visually indicate to the user that theirrigation station 1-1G1 has a Custom Runtime of 5 minutes and issubject to a Program Adjust of 80% and a Schedule Adjust of 90%resulting in an adjusted run time of 3 minutes and 36 seconds for thewatering schedule assigned to the irrigation station 1-1G1 (thisadjusted run time of 3 minutes and 36 seconds is also displayed in theRun Time listing in the listing 1370). Notably, in some embodiments, theadjusted run time that is displayed in the listing 1070 and in theactive adjustment panel 1390 is calculated based on the programmed runtime for a given irrigation station and the separate run timeadjustments that have been applied to the irrigation station.

It will be appreciated that the active operational adjustmentsassociated with the irrigation station 1-1G1 discussed above are shownin FIG. 13 by way of example only and, depending on the operationaladjustments defined for a given irrigation station of the irrigationsystem 116, the active adjustment panel 1390 may display additional ordifferent active operational adjustments for the given irrigationstation. For example, in some embodiments, the active adjustment panel1390 may display one or more of a program adjust value, a scheduleadjust value, a seasonal adjust value, a weather-based adjustment value,an evapotranspiration (ET)-based adjust value, a system adjustmentvalue, a manual adjust value, a custom adjust value, or the like. Insome embodiments, the active adjustment panel 1390 provides a convenientlocation and explanation resulting in the displayed run time without theneed to navigate to multiple menu options to retrieve this data.

Referring next to FIG. 14 , in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 is configured to cause a user interface 1400to be displayed to a user that allows users to control irrigation bedefining the volume amount of water to be applied to the area. Forexample. the user interface 1400 after a user used a drop-down menu 1430to select a Run Time Control called “Application,” which then permits auser to specify a desired water application amount (e.g., in inches ofwater to provide through irrigation). In some embodiments, in responseto a user selecting the “Application” Run Time Control, and the userselecting other variables (start days, start times), and then specifyingthe numerical value of water to apply to the irrigation area, theirrigation management application will determine the run time needed toapply the amount of water specified by the user. FIG. 15 shows anexemplary Application run time control submenu 1420, which pops up aftera user selects “Application” under Run Time Control in the userinterface 1400 of FIG. 14 , and which includes a user-modifiable inputfield 1440, which permits the user to enter the user-desired amount ofwatering to apply, in the illustrated example, the desired wateringbeing 1.0 inches of water. Since the flow rate of the sprinklers of theirrigation stations located in the portion of the user-specifiedirrigation area (in this case, “Greens”) as well as all the othervariables of the components of the irrigation are known, the amount ofwatering time to apply 1.0 inches of water to the user-specified portionof the irrigation area can then be calculated by the irrigationmanagement application.

Referring next to FIG. 16 , In some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application causes a user interface 1600 to be displayed to auser that provides a user with various options to adjust a cropcoefficient for one or more user-selected irrigation stations of theirrigation system. Generally, crop coefficients are properties of plantsused in predicting evapotranspiration (ET), where ET is an estimation ofthe amount of water lost by soil due to evaporation and transpiration(plant water use). Thus, crop coefficients are useful to automaticallydetermine how much water the system should apply to replace the waterlost by the plants. Different plant types have different cropcoefficients, and in a large irrigation system, there are many types ofplants being irrigated.

In central control irrigation systems, users can adjust the cropcoefficient globally for all watering programs, and/or adjust forindividual programs. However, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 provides the user interface 1600 that allowsthe user to adjust the crop coefficient for any one or more of theindividual irrigation stations that the user wants to specificallycontrol. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16 , the user interface1600 includes a crop coefficient adjustment menu 1620 for auser-selected irrigation station (in this example, irrigation station3A9). This exemplary crop coefficient adjustment menu 1630 allows theuser to set and/or change the crop coefficient for that irrigationstation (as illustrated in FIG. 16 , the crop coefficient is 1, which isvisible in informational field of the crop coefficient adjustment menu1630). This information displayed in the crop coefficient adjustmentmenu 1630 allows the user to account for plant life having differentcrop coefficients in the same area.

Referring next to FIGS. 17A-17E, an exemplary user interface inaccordance with some embodiments is shown that permits a user to selecta group of irrigation stations and includes a batch edit menu thatpermits the user to select one or more operational attributes of theirrigation stations of the group for adjustment.

Referring first to FIG. 17A, the irrigation management application isconfigured to cause an exemplary user interface 1700 to be displayed toa user that displays a listing (e.g., in table format that includes rowsand columns of the data) of irrigation stations of the irrigation systemand provides the user with ability for the user to select a group ofirrigation stations (as shown in FIG. 17A), or a group of programs (notshown), or a group of schedules (not shown) and batch edit one or morevariable for the entire group.

In the example shown in FIG. 17A, the user has selected a group ofirrigation stations (i.e., 1-G1 through 1T4 which are visually indicatedwithin the user interface 1700 as being selected via check marks withintheir corresponding irrigation station selector boxes 1725) and causedthe user interface 1700 to display an interactive batch edit menu 1730that permits the user to select at least one operational attribute toedit, and then assign values to the at least one operational attributeto be applied to each irrigation station of the group of multipleirrigation stations. In the illustrated embodiment, the exemplary userinterface 1700 also includes a select all irrigation station selectorbox 1727 which, when selected by the user, selects all of the irrigationstations by placing a check mark into the irrigation station selectorbox 1725 of each one of the irrigation stations. In some embodiments,the user interface 1700 may be configured to permit the user to causethe display of the interactive batch edit menu 1730 by firstselecting/tapping/clicking on the “More” icon 1720. In other aspects,the user interface 1700 may be configured to permit the user to causethe display of the interactive batch edit menu 1730 by firstselecting/tapping/clicking on the “Edit” icon 1710. In otherembodiments, the user may simply enter a command (e.g., a right clickaction) to cause the menu 1730 to be displayed.

In some embodiments, the batch edit menu 1730 includes a listing ofvarious user-selectable operational attributes and correspondingselection boxes 1735, one or more of which may be selected by the user(e.g., by clicking/tapping on them) to select one or more of the listedattributes to batch edit and apply values for the attributes to all theuser-selected irrigation stations in a single operation of theinteractive batch edit menu 1730. In the illustrated embodiment, thebatch edit menu 1730 includes various exemplary operational attributesthat the user may apply to one or more of the user-selected irrigationstations, such as, Adjust % (e.g., a station adjust), ET Adjust % (e.g.,a weather adjust), Flow Rate Per Head (e.g., a flow rate peremitter/sprinkler), Default Runtime, Default Cycle Time, Default SoakTime, Sprinkler Type, Precipitation Rate, Flo-Zone assignment, CropCoefficient, and Suspended ICM (as used herein, ICM stands for“integrated control module” and this setting allows the user tosuspend/resume operation of a given ICM of the station). Thus,generally, operational attributes that may be included in the batch editmenu 1730 of the user interface 1700 may include but are not limited to,one or more of: a run time, a cycle time, a rotation time, a soak time,a station adjust, a weather adjust, a flow rate per emitter, a sprinklertype, an emitter precipitation rate, a flow zone assignment, a cropcoefficient, a suspend setting, an assigned station area, and anassigned station sub-area, or the like.

In some embodiments, the user interface 1700 permits the user to selectone or more of the operational attributes and to assign values to onlythe operational attributes that are being assigned and applied to theirrigation stations of the user-selected group of irrigation stations,such that the user is not required to assign values to the operationalattributes that the user did not select within the interactive batchedit menu 1730 (i.e., by not clicking on their respective operationalattribute selection boxes 1735). For example, as in the illustratedembodiment where the user has selected only Adjust % and “DefaultRuntime” in the batch edit menu 1370, as will be seen in FIGS. 17B-17D,the user interface 1700 would provide the option to define, set ofadjust the value of only these attributes. In some embodiments, this canreduce user error if the user adjusted an attribute not intended. Oncethe user has selected the attributes to edit and clicked done in FIG.17A, the user interface displays a value assignment menu 1732 shown inFIG. 17B which is configured to allow the user to assign values to oneor more of the operational attributes selected by the user in theinteractive batch edit menu 1730.

The exemplary value assignment menu 1732 of FIG. 17B shows the optionsavailable to the user to adjust or define values for the Adjust % 1734and the Run Time 1736. In some embodiments, this menu would be displayedwithin the user interface 1700 when the user selects only the Adjust %and the Default Runtime operational attribute selection boxes 1735. Thatis, the value assignment menu 1732 will reflect and list only theattributes selected in the operational attribute selection boxes 1735.For example, if one attribute was selected in 1730, only a value forthat one attribute would be displayed in the value assignment menu 1732.In another example, if five attributes were selected in menu 1730, thenonly values for those five attributes would be displayed in the valueassignment menu 1732.

In FIG. 17B, to adjust or enter a value for the Adjust % 1734, the usercan click or select the number 100% and adjust up or down or enter a newvalue for the adjust %. And for example, to enter or adjust a value forthe run time 1736, the user can click, tap or select icon 1738 whichcauses a run time value assignment menu 1740 in FIG. 17C to bedisplayed.

The exemplary value assignment menu 1740 of FIG. 17C (and any othervalue assignment menu for other attributes) permits the user to adjustthe duration of the irrigation by the irrigation stations of theirrigation system 116. In the illustrated embodiment, the valueassignment menu 1740 includes three exemplary user-selectableinteractive fields/icons 1741 (Run Time), 1743 (Rotation), and 1745(Application) that the user may select to make various irrigationduration-related adjustments. In the example shown in FIG. 17C, the userhas selected to adjust Run Time (e.g., by clicking on, tapping, etc.)the interactive icon 1741 (this can be reflected by an underlineappearing under “Run Time” as shown in FIG. 17C, or by highlighting “RunTime,” etc.), which causes the value assignment menu 1740 to bring upthe Run Time sub-menu of the value assignment menu 1740, which includesinputs 1742 (e.g., up-down, plus-minus buttons/icons, number entryfields, etc.) to allow the user to select the duration (hours, minutes,seconds) of irrigation to adjust for the user-selected irrigationstations. In some embodiments, the Run Time sub-menu of the valueassignment menu 1740 shows the default run time to the user and permitsthe user to adjust the default run time to another value desired by theuser. In the example shown in FIG. 17C, if the user used the inputs ofthe value assignment menu 1740 to define that the user-selectedirrigation station will run for 1 minute of watering.

In the example shown in FIG. 17D, the user has selected to adjustRotation (e.g., by clicking on, tapping, etc.) the interactive icon 1743(this can be reflected by an underline appearing under “Rotation” asshown in FIG. 17D, or by highlighting “Run Time,” etc.), which causesthe value assignment menu 1740 to bring up the Rotation sub-menu of thevalue assignment menu 1740, which includes an input 1747 a (e.g., a datainput field, where a user can enter a numerical value that represents anumber of watering passes (2 watering passes in the illustrated example)for the sprinklers of the irrigation stations of the irrigation system116. In some embodiments, in response to a user entering a number ofwatering passes desired by the user, a run time specific to the knownrotary sprinklers of the irrigation stations of the irrigation system116 could be calculated (e.g., by the control circuit 220 of the centralcomputer 112 a), thus allowing the user to simply enter the number ofwatering passes, and letting the irrigation management application 114 adisplay the resulting run time (displayed in window 1747 b as 5 minutesin the example shown in FIG. 17E), as well as the resulting waterapplication in inches (displayed in window 1747 c as 0.04 inches in theexample shown in FIG. 17E).

In the example shown in FIG. 17E, the user has selected to adjustApplication (e.g., by clicking on, tapping, etc.) the interactive icon1745 (this can be reflected by an underline appearing under“Application” as shown in FIG. 17E, or by highlighting “Run Time,”etc.), which causes the value assignment menu 1740 to bring up theApplication sub-menu of the value assignment menu 1740, which includesan input 1749 a (e.g., a data input field, where a user can enter anumerical value that represents a number of inches the user desires toapply (0.25 inches in the illustrated example) by the user-selectedirrigation stations of the irrigation system 116. In some embodiments,in response to a user entering the number of inches to apply by theuser-selected irrigation stations, given that the variables (e.g.,pressure, sprinkler head rotation speed, arc of rotation of thesprinkler heads, etc.) specific to the known rotary sprinklers of theirrigation stations of the irrigation system 116 are known, the run timerequired to achieve the user-desired application depth (i.e., 0.25inches) could be calculated (e.g., by the control circuit 220 of thecentral computer 112 a), thus allowing the user to simply enter thenumber of inches of water to apply, and letting the irrigationmanagement application 114 a display the resulting run time (displayedin window 1749 b as 22 minutes and 17 seconds in the example shown inFIG. 17D).

In the illustrated embodiment, after the user sets the user-desiredadjustments to irrigation duration using the exemplary Run Time,Rotation, and Application sub-menus of FIGS. 17C-17E, respectively, theuser can use input 1744 (i.e., CANCEL) within the value assignment menu1740 shown in FIG. 17C to cancel the assignment of the user-selectedoperational attributes to the user-selected irrigation stations, orclick input 1746 (i.e., OK) to assign the user-selected operationalattributes to the user-selected irrigation stations.

In some embodiments, after the user selects the OK input 1746 in thevalue assignment menu 1740 (in this example, the Set Duration menu aspointed out above), the user is brought back to the value assignmentmenu 1732 of FIG. 17B to enter or adjust any values for any furtherselected attributes. If all are entered, then the user can select input1748 (i.e., CANCEL) within the value assignment menu 1732 to cancel theassignment of values to the selected operational attributes or clickinput 1750 (i.e., SAVE) to assign the values to the selected attributes.Once this is done, in some embodiments, the irrigation managementapplication 114 updates the programming associated with theuser-selected irrigation stations (in the example illustrated in FIG.17A, irrigation stations 1-G1 through 1T4) to which this batch editoperational attribute assignment was applied, such that these affecteduser-selected irrigation stations will now be automatically controlledby the irrigation system in accordance with the operational value(s)assigned to these irrigation stations by the user via the batch editmenu 1730 and the value assignment menus 1732 and 1740. In someembodiments, this saves the user a significant amount of time since theuser does not have to edit each station individually.

Referring next to FIG. 18 , an exemplary user interface 1800 inaccordance with some embodiments is shown that includes a listing ofirrigation stations of an irrigation area, permitting a user to selectone or more irrigation stations and to move and/or reorder one or moreof the irrigation stations in the listing. In the embodiment illustratedin FIG. 18 , the exemplary user interface 1800 displays a listing (e.g.,in table format that includes rows and columns of the data) of variousirrigation stations of an irrigation system named (in this case, 1-G1through 1-1G10) and arranged in an order specified by the user (e.g., bylocation, by name, etc.). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18 , theuser interface 1800 includes irrigation station selectors (shown asirrigation station selector boxes 1825), and the only irrigation stationselected by the user in the listing of irrigation stations is irrigationstation 1-1G1, which is visually indicated by the station selector box1825 for irrigation station 1-1G1 having a check mark in it.

In some embodiments, the user interface 1800 caused to be displayed bythe irrigation management application 114 is configured to include aninteractive feature to permit the user to move or re-order/re-sequence aselected irrigation station into a different position within the listingof irrigation stations, or into a different listing that listsirrigation stations of a different group. Advantageously, the userinterface 1800 is configured such that, when an irrigation stationselected by the user is moved/reordered within its current listing, ormoved to another listing of irrigation stations, each of the irrigationstations being moved and/or reordered by the user retain all operationalattributes or parameters that were assigned to it before themove/reorder.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIG. 18 , the exemplary user interface1800 shows a listing of stations 1-1G1 through 1-1G10. In some cases,the irrigation stations are automatically assigned these irrigationstation names/numbers and the user would like to re-order them. Forexample, if the user would like to move/reorder station 1-1G1 to adifferent position within the listing displayed in FIG. 18 , such as tothe position of station 1-1G5, the user can cause a move/reorder menu1840 to be displayed. In some cases, the menu 1840 is displayed inresponse to the user selecting an interactive icon 1830 entitled “More”.Once the menu 1840 is displayed by the user interface, the user toselect either the “Move” option 1842 or the “Reorder” option 1843.

In some embodiments, if the user selects the “Move” option 1842 in themove/reorder menu 1840, the user interface 1800 is caused to display amove station menu 1844, an example of which is shown in FIG. 19A. Theexemplary move station menu 1844 of FIG. 19A relates to areas or areaportions of a golf course and includes user-selectable drop-down menus1845 a, 1845 b, and 1845 c that permit the user to move an irrigationstation to a different location in the same listing of irrigationstations or to a different listing of irrigation stations. In someembodiments, the move station menu 1844 includes user-selectable (i.e.,via the drop-down menus 1845 a-1845 c) listings or portions of a golfcourse that may be area portions of the golf course to be irrigated(e.g., “Hole,” selectable via drop-down menu 1845 a); plant type areaportions of the golf course to be irrigated (e.g., “Green,” selectablevia drop-down menu 1845 b), and sub-area portions of the golf course tobe irrigated (e.g., “Greens-1,” selectable via drop-down menu 1845 b).

For example, to move the irrigation station 1-1G1 from Hole 1, Greenarea, Greens-1 (1G1) to a different location selected by the user, e.g.,1G5, the user would not change the Hole 1 value in drop-down menu 1845a, and would not change the “GREEN” value in drop-down menu 1845 b, butwould change the “Greens-1” value in drop-down menu 1845 c from“Greens-1” to “Greens-5.” In some embodiments, the movement of station1G1 by the user from Greens 1 to Greens 5 would shift irrigation station1G2 through 1G5 to now become 1G1 through 1G4, and the irrigationstation that was named 1G1 will be renamed as irrigation station 1G5after the move such that its name is consistent with the default namesof the irrigation stations in its new listing, i.e., Greens-5. In someembodiments, after a new position (i.e., 1G5) is selected for theirrigation station (i.e., 1G1) being moved, the user interface 1800 isconfigured to redisplay the irrigation stations such that the stationbeing moved is displayed in its new position, and the irrigationstations in the listing from which 1G1 is being moved are displayed intheir new positions that were shifted as a result of 1G1 being moved to1G5. In the illustrated embodiment, the exemplary move station menu 1844includes a user-selectable field/icon/box 1845 d that permits the userto specify that a new default name is applied to the irrigation stationsbeing moved and/or shifted.

In some embodiments, the operational attributes of the irrigationstations are retained when they are moved, such that the operationalattributes that were assigned to irrigation station 1G1, such as runtime, ET, Adjust, etc. will carry over and will not change even with theirrigation station 1G1 being moved from Greens 1 to Greens 5 andbecoming irrigation station 1G5, and the irrigation managementapplication 114 would update the programming of the irrigation stationbeing moved such that the irrigation station that was moved from 1G1 to1G5 will be controlled according to its original operational attributes.In some embodiments, when an irrigation station is moved from onelisting (e.g., Greens-1) to another listing (e.g., Greens-5), theoperational attributes of the irrigation station that is moved may bechanged to be consistent with the operational attributes of the otherirrigation stations in the new listing (i.e., Greens-5), e.g., byselecting user-selectable field/icon/box 1845 e. In such cases, theoperational attributes of the irrigation station may change in someembodiments when the irrigation station is moved from Greens-1 toGreens-5, and the irrigation management application 114 would update theprogramming of the irrigation station being moved such that theirrigation station that was moved from 1G1 to 1G5 will be controlledaccording to its newly-assigned (and not the original) operationalattributes.

It will be appreciated that instead of being moved from one sub-arealisting to another sub-area listing (i.e., Greens-1 to Greens-5) asdescribed above, a user-selected irrigation station in a listingdisplayed within the exemplary user interface 1800 could be moved toanother portion of the course (e.g., from hole 1 to hole 2, or from thegreen of hole 1 to the fairway of hole 1 (or the fairway of hole 3)using the other selections (e.g., drop-down menus 1845 a-1845 c) in themove station sub-menu 1844. And, as pointed out above, in someembodiments, the user may be able to select whether or not theoperational attributes of the irrigation station being moved go with theirrigation station being moved or are deleted, or if the operationalattributes of the irrigation station being moved will apply to the newirrigation station that took its place in its original listing.

In some embodiments, if the user selects the “Reorder” option 1843 inthe move/reorder sub-menu 1840, the user interface 1800 is caused todisplay a reorder station menu 1854, an example of which is shown inFIG. 19B. The exemplary reorder station menu 1854 of FIG. 19B relates toareas or area portions of a golf course and includes user-selectabledrop-down menus 1855 (permitting the user to select a user-desiredportion of a golf course such as a hole) and 1857 (permitting the userto select a user-desired area on a hole of a golf course such asgreens). Notably, the reorder station menu 1854 does not include adrop-down menu that would permit the user to select a user-desiredsub-area of a golf course such as greens-1 or greens-5 as shown in FIG.19A, but it will be appreciated that the reorder menu 1854 may includesuch a user-selectable option in some embodiments. In the example shownin FIG. 19B, if the user selected, via the drop down menus 1855 and 1857of the reorder menu 1854 to reorder the irrigation stations in thegreens area of hole 1, the user can use input 1858 (i.e., CANCEL) withinthe reorder menu 1854 to cancel this reorder operation, or click input1859 (i.e., OK) to proceed with the reorder operation.

FIG. 19C shows an exemplary reorder menu 1866 that the exemplary userinterface 1800 would cause to be displayed to the user if the userselects input 1859 (i.e., Next) in the reorder menu 1854. The exemplaryreorder sub-menu 1866 shown in FIG. 19C shows a listing of a group offive exemplary irrigation stations that are being reordered, in thisexample, 1G1, 1G2, 1G3, 1G4, and 1G5. In the illustrated embodiment, thereorder sub-menu 1866 includes a user-selectable link/icon 1878 thatpermits the user to choose which of the irrigation stations the userdesires to reorder. In the example shown in FIG. 19C, the user wouldclick the user-selectable link/icon 1878 next to irrigation station 1G4,in response to which the user interface 1800 to display an exemplarychoose new location sub-menu 1880 as shown in FIG. 19D, which permitsthe user to select a new location for the irrigation station 1G4 beingreordered. To that end, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19D, theexemplary choose new location sub-menu 1880 includes a user-selectablefield 1882 (e.g., a drop-down menu) that permits the user to select,from a listing of irrigation station locations, a new location for theirrigation station (1G4) being reordered. In the example illustrated inFIG. 19D, the new location the user selected for the irrigation station1G4 is 1G1.

In the example shown in FIG. 19C, after the user selects (via icon 1878)which irrigation station is going to be reordered, the user can useinput 1874 (i.e., CANCEL) within the reorder sub-menu 1866 to cancel thereorder operation, or click input 1876 (i.e., SAVE) to proceed with thereorder operation. If the user proceeds with the order by selectinginput 1876 in the reorder sub-menu 1866 of FIG. 19C, the irrigationmanagement application 114 applies the user-selected reorder operationand generates, within the user interface 1800, an updated listing of theirrigation stations (see FIG. 19E) that shows that irrigation station1G4 has been moved to irrigation location 1G1 consistent with thereorder operation input by the user, and that the irrigation stations1G1, 1G2, 1G3 and 1G5 have been shifted down to locations 1G2, 1G3, 1G4,and 1G5, respectively.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19E, before the user finalizes thereorder operation, the user is permitted to select options as to whetherthe irrigation stations being reordered will automatically get assignednew names, and whether any gaps in names caused by the irrigationstation reordering will be removed. To that end, in the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 19C and 19E, the exemplary reorder sub-menu 1866includes a user-selectable link/icon 1870 called “Apply new defaultnames” and a user-selectable link/icon 1872 called “Remove gaps.” Insome embodiments, if the user selects the icon 1870 and the icon 1872,when the irrigation stations are reordered, this reordering would shiftthe irrigation stations in the listing, but the names of the irrigationstations will be shifted appropriately to remove any gaps in the listingand to assign appropriate names/numbers to the irrigation stations basedon their position in the reordered listing.

In the example shown in FIG. 19E, after the user selects (via icon 1870)whether to apply new default names and selects (via icon 1872) whetherto remove gaps, the user can use input 1874 (i.e., CANCEL) within thereorder sub-menu 1866 to cancel the reorder operation, or click input1876 (i.e., SAVE) to proceed with the reorder operation. If the userproceeds with the order by selecting input 1876 in the reorder sub-menu1866 of FIG. 19E, the irrigation management application 114 applies theuser-selected reorder operation and generates, within the user interface1800, an updated listing of the irrigation stations (see FIG. 19F) thatshows that the irrigation stations have now been assigned new names andthat the gaps in the numerical order of the names of the irrigationstations caused by the reorder have been removed, such that the names ofthe irrigation stations, i.e., 1G1, 1G2, 1G3, 1G4, and 1G5 now matchlocations 1G1, 1G2, 1G3, 1G4, and 1G5, respectively. In someembodiments, to complete the reorder operation, the user would selectinput 1876 SAVE in the reorder sub-menu shown in FIG. 19F.

In some embodiments, the operational attributes of the irrigationstations are retained when they are reordered, such that the operationalattributes that were assigned to irrigation station 1G4, such as runtime, ET, Adjust, etc. will carry over and will not change even with theirrigation station 1G4 was reordered from location 1G4 to location 1G1,and the irrigation management application 114 would update theprogramming of the irrigation station being reordered such that theirrigation station that was reordered from location 1G4 to location 1G1will be controlled according to its original operational attributes.

Referring next to FIGS. 20A-20D, exemplary user interfaces are shownthat includes a listing of flow tree elements associated with theirrigation stations of an irrigation area and permits a user to selectone or more of the flow tree elements and move one or more of the flowtree elements in the listing.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application 114 executedon or by an electronic device causes a user interface 2000 to bedisplayed to a user, and that provides the user with the ability to moveflow tree elements (such as provided in Rain Bird's FloManagerg product)rather than deleting the branch and then reconstructing a new branch.For example, in some embodiments, FloManagerg is a functionalityincluded in the irrigation management application 114 that manages theflow of water through the irrigation system 116. For example,FloManagerg may set the capacities of various piping sections in theirrigation system 116. In some embodiments, to enable FloManager® orother flow management system to manage the flow of water through theirrigation system 116, the user may define the various flow branches ofthe irrigation system. For example, the flow branches of the irrigationsystem may extend from a larger branch, like branches from a tree growfrom the trunk and spread into smaller branches.

In the user interface 2000 of FIG. 20A, when the tree view 2040 isselected, a flow tree is displayed as a listing of expandable flow treeelements. In some embodiments, the flow tree is a hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers, each layer having flow elements, andthat may also be expanded. A first expandable flow element layer of thetree is a pump layer indicating a listing of pump elements in thesystem. In FIG. 20A, a highest level pump layer includes pump elementsP1—Test Pump, P2—Pump 2, P3—Pump 3, P4—Pump 4, and P5—Pump 5. Each ofthese pump layers can be expanded to reveal the layer/s included in thepump layer. In some embodiments, a given pump layer may include morethan one expandable pump layer. For example, pump layer P1-Test Pump canbe expanded to reveal pump layer Booster Pump 4. Typically, the onlypump devices underneath a pump layer are booster pumps, such as BoosterPump 4. Pump layers are indicated in the tree using a pump icon 2042.Any of the flow element layers can be expanded/hidden to show/hide thelayers underneath by selecting/clicking/tapping the expansion symbol2043.

Below or contained within pump layers is a second expandable flowelement layer including a flow branch layer indicating a listing of oneor more flow branch elements associated with each pump element of thepump layer. For example, as shown in FIG. 20A, flow branch layerB6—Branch 6 is a flow branch layer under pump layer Booster Pump 4,which is under pump layer P1-Test Pump. In the tree, branch layers areindicated in the tree using a branch icon 2044. Similar to pump layers,branch layers may contain one or more additional branch layers orsub-branch layers. For example, see FIG. 20B, which illustrates multiplebranch and sub-branch layers. Any of the branch layers can beexpanded/hidden to show/hide the layers underneath byselecting/clicking/tapping the appropriate expansion symbol 2043.

Below or contained within branch layers is a third expandable flowelement layer including a flow zone layer indicating a listing of one ormore flow zone elements associated with each flow branch element of thebranch layer. For example, as shown in FIG. 20A, flow zone layer FZ1—FloZone 1 is a flow zone layer under branch layer B6— Branch 6. In thetree, flow zone layers are indicated in the tree using a flow zone icon2046. Similar to pump and branch layers, flow zone layers may containone or more additional flow zone or sub-flow zone layers. Any of theflow zone layers can be expanded/hidden to show/hide the layersunderneath by selecting/clicking/tapping the appropriate expansionsymbol 2043.

And in some embodiments, below or contained within flow zone layers is afourth expandable flow element layer including a sprinkler layer (notshown) indicating a listing of one or more sprinkler elements associatedwith each flow zone element of the flow zone layer. For example, flowzone FZ1—Flo Zone 1 could be expanded to show any sprinkler elementsassociated with the given flow zone. In the tree, sprinkler layers areindicated using a sprinkler icon (not shown). Similar to other layers,sprinkler layers may contain one or more additional sprinkler orsub-sprinkler layers. Any of the sprinkler layers can be expanded/hiddento show/hide the layers underneath by selecting/clicking/tapping theappropriate expansion symbol 2043.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20A, the irrigationmanagement application 114 generates the user interface 2000 thatvisually displays to the user a tree diagram of the flow element layersand branches of the irrigation system. In some embodiments, the userinterface 2000 allows the user to navigate to and select a given flowelement in the hierarchy and display an option to move the given flowelement to a different location in the hierarchy (e.g., due to flowreconfiguration or correction), resulting in the element being moved inthe tree. In the illustrated embodiment, the user selects flow zoneFZ1—Flo Zone 1 (shown as field 2052) by clicking, tapping, and/orhovering over it, in response to which the user interface 2000 generatesand brings up a flow tree menu 2050 with a user-selectable interactivemove element 2054 called “Move” as shown in FIG. 20A. In addition to“Move,” the exemplary flow tree menu 2050 includes various otherexemplary user-selectable flow tree-related options such as “AssignStations,” “Insert Branch Between,” “Edit,” “Delete,” “Expand All,” and“Collapse All,” although it will be appreciated that the flow tree menu2050 may include additional or alternative user-selectable flow treeoptions.

In the illustrated embodiment, in response to the user selecting “Move”in the flow tree menu 2050 of FIG. 20A, the user interface 2000 isconfigured to generate and present to the user a listing of variousbranch location options, which may be selected by the user (e.g., byclicking, tapping, etc.) to select the user-desired branch location tomove the flow zone FZ1—Flo Zone 1 selected by the user in FIG. 20A. Inone embodiment shown in FIG. 20C, the user interface 2000 displays anexemplary move flow element sub-menu 2060 that may include a listing ofexemplary user-selectable fields 2062 corresponding to variousbranches/layers of the flow tree where the user could move Flo Zone 1,such as P1—Pump Station, P2—Pump Station, B45-4″HDPE, B46-Branch 46,etc. For example, to move the Flow Zone 1 to branch P2—Pump Station, theuser would simply select (e.g., by clicking, tapping, hovering over,etc.) the user-selectable field 2062 entitled P2—Pump Station andselect/click/tap the Move option 2064.

In some embodiments, after a new location is selected for the flow treeelement being moved, the user interface 2000 is configured to redisplaythe flow tree branches as shown in FIG. 20D, such that the flow element(FZ1—Flo Zone 1) having been moved is displayed in its new position2070, and the flow tree branches in the flow tree branch listingaffected by this move of Flo Zone 1 are displayed in their new positionsas needed to which they were shifted as a result of Flow Zone 1 beingmoved to its new position.

In some embodiments, the moved flow element retains all attributes andno re-programming is needed For example, as the branch Flo-Zone 1 ismoved into its new position, the irrigation management application 114 ais configured to transfer all data for Flo-Zone 1 (e.g., operationalattributes and/or informational attributes associated with Flo-Zone 1)with Flo-Zone 1 into the new branch in the tree diagram. This saves theuser time since the user does not need to delete the original elementand re-create a new element at a new location, and does not have toenter the characteristics of the element in its new position.

With reference to FIGS. 21A-21B, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 is configured to cause the display of a userinterface 2100 to a user and that includes a map 2105 of an irrigationarea and visually displays to the user the station icons 2112, 2114,2116 which, in this exemplary case, correspond to irrigation stations3G1, 3G2, and 3G4 of the irrigation system associated with theirrigation area, and provides the user with the ability to prioritizewatering by the irrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, and 3G4 based on a missionplan of movement of devices (lawn mowers, golf carts, etc.) in theirrigation area. For example, as shown in FIG. 21A, devices like manned,robotic, or autonomous mower units 2160 can be configured to movethrough the irrigation area in a known pattern of directional movement(indicated by large arrows aligned with the mowers 2160 in FIG. 21A).Given that the pattern of the movement of the mowers 2160 is known tothe electronic device running the irrigation management application 114,active watering by the irrigation stations, in this case, irrigationstations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4, in the area ahead of the mower units 2160 can bepaused or delayed until after the mower units 2160 pass through and areout of the area irrigated by the irrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4.

As shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, autonomous mowers 2160 advance throughthe irrigation area while mowing the grass in a known pattern(represented in FIGS. 21A and 21B by the directional arrows aligned withthe mowers 2160). In some embodiments, the current location of themowers 2160 is continuously known, for example, due to globalpositioning system (GPS) data communicated by the mowers 2160 to acentral computer or server running the irrigation managementapplication. In the example shown in FIG. 21A, as the electronic devicerunning the irrigation management application thereon determines, forexample, based on the obtained GPS data, that the mowers 2160 areapproaching irrigation stations 3G4, 3G1 and 3G2 of the irrigation area2105, the irrigation management application 114 output signals to delaywatering scheduled to occur at these irrigation stations (the irrigationstation icons 2112, 2114, 2116 are shown as being uncolored/unshadedwithin the user interface 2100 of FIG. 21A to visually indicate to theuser that they are not actively watering).

On the other hand, once the irrigation management application 114determines, for example, based on the obtained GPS data, that the mowers2160 passed through the portion of the irrigation area irrigated by theirrigation stations 3G1, 3G, 3G4, the irrigation management application114 allows the irrigation by the irrigation stations 3G1, 3G, 3G4 tostart (the station icons 2112, 2114, 2116 corresponding to theirrigation stations 3G1, 3G, 3G4 in FIG. 21B may be displayed in color(e.g., blue, etc.) or may pulsate/toggle between a larger and smallersize to indicate that the corresponding irrigation stations 3G1, 3G, 3G4are actively irrigating).

Notably, the active watering delays and the reactivation of watering bythe irrigation stations 3G4, 3G1 and 3G2 described above do notnecessarily have to be implemented by the irrigation managementapplication running on a central computer 112, 112 a, and may bemanually implemented by a user of the irrigation management application114 b/114 b′ or 114 c/114 c′ running on computer 118 or mobile devices120 a-120 f In an example, if the user knows that an automatic mowers2160 will mow a first portion of the irrigation area from 9-10 PM, asecond portion of the irrigation area from 10-11 PM and a third portionof the irrigation area from 11 PM-12 AM, the irrigation managementsystem can prioritize irrigation to begin on the third portion of theirrigation area at 9 PM, then start irrigation on the first portion ofthe irrigation area after 10 PM, and then begin irrigation on the secondportion of the irrigation area after 11 PM, thereby advantageouslyavoiding interference with the mission plan of the maintenance equipment(e.g., mowers 2160, etc.) through the irrigation area.

With reference to FIGS. 22A-22B, in some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application 114 is configured to cause the display to theuser of a user interface 2200 that includes a map 2205 of an irrigationarea and visually displays to the user the irrigation station icons2212, 2214, 2216 which, in this exemplary case, correspond to irrigationstations 3G1, 3G2, and 3G4 of the irrigation system associated with theirrigation area, and provides the user of the irrigation managementapplication 114 an option to deactivate irrigation by the irrigationstations 3G1, 3G2, and 3G4 when a person 2270 approaches the portion ofthe irrigation area being actively irrigated by the irrigation stations3G1, 3G2, and 3G4.

In one embodiment, the electronic device running the irrigationmanagement application 114 thereon can receive GPS positioning data frommobile device/s 2220 carried by the person 2270 moving in the irrigationarea (see FIGS. 22A and 22B). In some embodiments, these devices 2220can be mobile phones running a mobile irrigation management application114 thereon. The mobile irrigation management application 114 may usethe GPS data from the mobile device 2220 and wirelessly transmit the GPSlocation data of the mobile device 2220 to a central computer 112, 112 arunning the irrigation management application 114.

In one aspect, if it is determined (e.g., by the irrigation managementapplication) that the location of the mobile device 2220 nears a portionof the irrigation area that is being actively irrigated by theirrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4, the irrigation management applicationmay automatically cause (or a user may manually cause) active irrigationby the irrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4 to be paused or delays thescheduled start time of the watering by the irrigation stations 3G1,3G2, 3G4 until it is determined that the mobile device 2220 leaves theportion of the irrigation area that is irrigated by the irrigationstations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 22A, the person 2270 isapproaching the green of hole 3 on a golf course which the irrigationstations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4 are actively irrigating (the irrigation stationicons 2212, 2214, 2216 corresponding to the irrigation stations 3G1,3G2, 3G4 in FIG. 22A may be displayed as discussed above in color (e.g.,blue, etc.) or may pulsate/toggle between a larger and smaller size toindicate that the corresponding irrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4 areactively irrigating). In an embodiment, GPS data sent from the mobiledevice 2220 to the electronic device running the irrigation managementapplication indicates that the person 2270 is approaching the green. Inone example, since the exemplary user interface 2200 visually indicatesto the user of the central computer 112 a that a person 2270 isapproaching a portion of the irrigation area being actively irrigated bythe irrigation stations it is known that irrigation is active atstations 3G4, 3G1, and 3G2, the irrigation management application 114 acauses signaling to be output to irrigation stations 3G1, 3G2, 3G4 toturn them off or pause them while the person 2270 is on the green (theirrigation icons 2212, 2214, 2216 are shown as being uncolored/unshadedwithin the user interface 2200 of FIG. 22B to visually indicate to theuser that they are not actively watering). When it is determined, basedon the GPS data received from the mobile device 2220 of the person 2270that the person 2270 has left the green, the irrigation managementapplication is caused to output signaling to irrigation stations 3G1,3G2, 3G4 to turn them back on and resume irrigation.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 23 , the irrigation managementapplication 114 a includes an artificial intelligence (AI) model 2380trained to take various inputs and provide suggestions to users of theirrigation management application (e.g., landscape managers, homeowners,etc.). The AI model 2380 may also be referred to as a machine learningmodel and/or a neural network (which may be a convolutional neuralnetwork, etc.). In some embodiments, the AI model 2380 is trained usingmany sets of example data, and once trained, is set up to receivecurrent data for the irrigation area where the irrigation system isinstalled. In some aspects, the input data 2382 can include weather dataobtained (e.g., by the irrigation management application) from thirdparty weather servers and/or local weather sensors, local soil and otherplant condition sensors, plant life information (e.g., type, cropcoefficient, root depth, known growth patterns), soil type data, terrainslope, shade, water schedule data, and so on. In some embodiments, theAI model 2380 analyzes the obtained input data and then makessuggestions to the user (e.g., landscape manager, homeowner, etc.). Thewater suggestions 2384, which the irrigation management application 114may cause to be visually displayed in a user interface of a display ofan electronic device of a user (e.g., computer 118, mobile device 120 a)can include, for example, suggestions to the user for upcoming day/sthat would be good for scheduling growing degree days, fertilizationdays, and overseeding days, etc. An example of a third party thatprovides AI models and tools to provide insights and suggestions forirrigation is provided by Mesur.IO, seehttps://mesur.io/solutions-landing, incorporated herein by reference.

It is understood that embodiments of the systems/methods of managing anirrigation system, as well as embodiments of the irrigation managementapplication and related features described herein may be implemented(via a computer-implemented application such as a web browser, mobileapplication, or the like) in one or more of a central control irrigationsystem, a cloud based irrigation control system, a stand aloneirrigation controller, a mobile device such as a mobile computer tablet,phone, or wearable device, or the like. It is understood that theirrigation management system hardware and software components andrelated features described in reference to various embodiments ofsystems and methods herein may be implemented for managing (e.g.,monitoring and/or controlling) irrigation systems installed in variousenvironments, including but not limited to golf, landscape,agricultural, residential, etc. It is understood that in someembodiments, the irrigation management application to implement one ormore features described herein may be implemented across multipledevices and components in wired and/or wireless communications witheach. In some embodiments, the irrigation management application isinstalled on a user's computer equipment or mobile computing device andmay use other functionalities native to the host computer device todisplay to the user a user interface that provides the user with theirrigation system managing functionality as described herein.

It is noted that many of the features described herein entail thedisplay of information to users via various user interfaces. In someembodiments, whether certain data and features are displayed on the userinterfaces and/or allow for users to enter/adjust information or datavia the user interfaces, displayed/entered/adjusted data can be coupledto and part of the irrigation control system such that an irrigationmanagement application can output various control signals that willcause or change the irrigation of portions of a landscape and/or causeor change other actions in the irrigation system. For example, entereddata may result in irrigation schedules or on/off/pause/resume commandsto be sent to various field devices to open and close valves ofirrigation stations resulting in water emission from sprinkler devices.Similarly, data retrieved from the irrigation system is retrieved insome embodiments from irrigation field components under command andcontrol by the irrigation management application.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems that comprises anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area, which mayinclude a plurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation managementapplication can be configured to be executed by an electronic deviceincluding a control circuit, and a memory. The irrigation managementapplication can be stored in the memory, and when executed by thecontrol circuit, the irrigation management application is configured tocause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, where theuser interface can in some embodiments include a map of a geographicregion that includes the at least one irrigation area, and cause theuser interface to display station icons on the map, each station icon ofthe station icons corresponding to one of the plurality of irrigationstations. In some embodiments, each of the station icons visuallyindicates an operational status of an irrigation station correspondingto a respective one of the station icons. The electronic device, in someimplementations, comprises one of a computer, a server, and a mobilehandheld device. The display can be coupled to or part of the electronicdevice, and when executed, the irrigation management application can beconfigured to cause the user interface to be displayed on the display bytransmitting instructions to the display.

The display, in some embodiments, can be coupled to or part of anotherelectronic device remote from the electronic device and configured tocommunicate with the electronic device, and when executed, theirrigation management application can be configured to cause the userinterface to be displayed on the display by transmitting signals to theanother electronic device, and the another electronic device can beconfigured to cause the user interface to be displayed on the display.The irrigation management system can further include another irrigationmanagement application stored in a memory of the other electronicdevice. In some embodiments, the irrigation management application isdistributed between the electronic device and one or more additionalelectronic devices such that at least portions of the irrigationmanagement application are stored in the memory and a memory of the oneor more additional electronic devices. The electronic device cancomprise a mobile electronic device and the irrigation managementapplication can comprise an application configured to link to a remotecomputer device or server configured to provide signaling to cause theapplication to display the user interface. Additionally oralternatively, the electronic device can comprise a mobile electronicdevice and the irrigation management application can comprise a browserapplication configured to display the user interface based on signalingreceived from a remote computer device or server in order to provideirrigation management functionality to the user via the user interface.

In some embodiments, the operational status comprises a visualindication of whether the irrigation stations corresponding to thestation icons are on or off. Similarly, the station icon can comprise,in some embodiments, an animated image that changes between differentsizes to indicate when the operational status of the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon is on. The operational statusadditionally or alternatively can comprise a visual indication ofwhether the irrigation station corresponding to the station icon isworking properly or malfunctioning. The operational status, in someinstances, can comprise a visual indication representing an alert thatthe irrigation station corresponding to the station icon ismalfunctioning. The user interface can be configured to display adiagnostic report listing the alert visually indicated by the stationicon responsive to the user hovering over or clicking on the stationicon. In some implementations, the operational status comprises a visualindication representing an alert that the irrigation station did notpass a diagnostic test.

The user interface, in some embodiments, can be configured, in responseto a selection by the user of one or more of the station icons visibleon the map, to generate an interactive irrigation station control panel.In some embodiments, the interactive irrigation station control panelcan be configured to permit the user to view at least one of: a nameindicator that indicates an identifier assigned to an irrigation stationassociated with the station icon selected by the user; a nozzle typeindicator indicating a nozzle type of one or more sprinklers controlledby the irrigation station associated with the station icon selected bythe user; a remaining watering time countdown for the irrigation stationassociated with the station icon selected by the user; a graphicalindicator of the remaining watering time in relation to a total wateringtime for which the irrigation station associated with the station iconselected by the user was activated; a dry run forecast of an estimatedtime duration of a next watering event for the irrigation stationassociated with the station icon selected by the user; a last runindicator that indicates a date and time of a last watering eventcompleted by the irrigation station associated with the station iconselected by the user; a sprinkler type indicator that indicates a typeof one or more sprinklers used by the irrigation station associated withthe station icon selected by the user; and active adjustments indicatorthat indicates all active operational attribute adjustments for theirrigation station associated with the station icon selected by theuser. The graphical indicator of the remaining watering time can includea geometric shape that represents the total watering time for which theirrigation station associated with the station icon selected by the userwas activated, and a shaded or colored portion of the geometric shapethat indicates the remaining watering time for the irrigation stationassociated with the station icon selected by the user.

The nozzle type indicator, in some embodiments, can be displayed withinthe interactive irrigation station control panel in a color that isspecific to the nozzle type of the sprinklers controlled by theirrigation station associated with the station icon selected by theuser. The station icon can be configured to visually indicate a nozzletype of one or more sprinklers controlled by the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon. The station icon can be displayed, insome embodiments, using a color that indicates the nozzle type of theone or more sprinklers controlled by the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon. In some implementations, the stationicon associated with an irrigation station that is actively irrigatingcan be associated with a graphical indicator visually indicating aremaining watering time by the irrigation station and the remainingwatering time by the irrigation station in relation to a total wateringtime for which the irrigation station was activated. The graphicalindicator of the remaining watering time can include a geometric shapethat represents the total watering time for which the irrigation stationwas activated and a shaded or colored portion of the geometric shapethat represents the remaining watering time for the irrigation station.

In some embodiments, a station icon associated with an irrigationstation that is actively irrigating can be associated with aninformation field that displays an identifier of the station icon and acountdown of a remaining watering time by the irrigation station. Anoperational status of at least one station icon can visually indicate,in some instances, that at least one operational attribute of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon has been adjusted.In some embodiments, at least one of the station icons can visuallyindicate at least one informational attribute of the irrigation stationcorresponding to a respective one of the station icons. In someinstances, at least one operational attribute can be visually indicatedusing one of a plurality of colors, each of the plurality of colorscorresponding to different operational attributes of the irrigationstation corresponding to the station icon. In some embodiments, at leastone operational attribute can be visually indicated using one of aplurality of shades of a color, each shade of the color corresponding toa different value range of the at least one operational attribute of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon. For example, afirst shade of the color can indicate that a run time of the irrigationstation was adjusted by about 10-70%, a second shade of the color canindicate that the run time of the irrigation station was adjusted byabout 70-130%, and a third shade of the color can indicate that the runtime of the irrigation station was adjusted by about 130-200%, andwherein the second shade can, for example, be darker than the firstshade and the third shade can be darker than the second shade. Thestation icon can be associated with a colored shape surrounding thestation icon, where the colored shape surrounding the station icon canbe of a color that is different than a color of the station icon. Thecolor of the colored shape surrounding the station icon can indicatedifferent values of the at least one operational attribute of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory. The irrigation management application canbe stored in the memory, and when executed by the control circuit, theirrigation management application can be configured to: cause a userinterface to be displayed on a display to a user, where the userinterface can include a map of a geographic region that includes the atleast one irrigation area; and cause the user interface to displaystation icons on the map, where each station icon of the station iconscorresponding to an irrigation station of the plurality of irrigationstations. The station icon can visually indicate a location type of theat least one irrigation area where the irrigation station correspondingto the station icon is located.

In some embodiments, the station icon cab be displayed using one of aplurality of colors. For example, a first of the colors can represent afirst location type of the at least one irrigation area and a second ofthe colors can represent a second location type of the at least oneirrigation area. The first location type can be different from thesecond location type. The station icon, in some implementations, canadditionally or alternatively be displayed using one of a plurality ofshades of a color. For example, a first shade of the color can representa first location type of the at least one irrigation area and a secondshade of the color can represent a second location type of the at leastone irrigation area, wherein the first location type is different fromthe second location type.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising: anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigation managementapplication can be stored in the memory, and when executed by thecontrol circuit, the irrigation management application is configured to:cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, the userinterface including a map of a geographic region that includes the atleast one irrigation area; and cause the user interface to displaystation icons on the map, each station icon of the station iconscorresponding to an irrigation station of the plurality of irrigationstations. The station icon can be associated with a visual marker thatindicates that an operational parameter of the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon has been adjusted relative to ascheduled operational parameter. The visual marker, in someimplementations, can comprise a single upwardly-pointing symbol thatindicates that the operational parameter of the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon has been adjusted to be greater thanthe scheduled operational parameter. The visual marker, in someembodiments, can comprise two or more upwardly-pointing symbolsindicating that the operational parameter of the irrigation stationcorresponding to the station icon has been adjusted to be greater thanthe scheduled operational parameter and was increased by a larger valuethan an adjustment of the scheduled operational parameter indicated bythe single upwardly-pointing symbol. In some embodiments, the visualmarker an comprise a single downwardly-pointing symbol that indicatesthat the operational parameter of the irrigation station correspondingto the station icon has been adjusted to be less than the scheduledoperational parameter. The visual marker can, in some implementations,comprises two or more downwardly-pointing symbols indicating that theoperational parameter of the irrigation station corresponding to thestation icon has been adjusted to be less than the scheduled operationalparameter and was decreased by a larger value than an adjustment of thescheduled operational parameter indicated by the singledownwardly-pointing symbol. The operational parameter indicated by thevisual marker associated with the station icon can, for example, be arun time of the irrigation station corresponding to the station icon,and wherein the visual marker indicates that the run time of theirrigation station corresponding to the station icon is zero such thatthe irrigation station is inactive.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management system comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, where the irrigation managementapplication can be stored in the memory, and when executed by thecontrol circuit, the irrigation management application can be configuredto: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, theuser interface including a map of a geographic region that includes theat least one irrigation area; cause the user interface to displaystation icons on the map, each station icon of the station iconscorresponding to an irrigation station of the plurality of irrigationstations; and cause the user interface to display an informational fieldassociated with one or more of the station icons, wherein eachinformational field visually indicates a value for one or moreoperational parameters of an irrigation station associated with the oneor more of the station icons. The one or more operational parameterscan, in some instances, comprise one or more of a voltage measured theirrigation station associated with the station icon, a pressure measuredat the irrigation station associated with the station icon, a flow valuesensed at the irrigation station associated with the station icon, andan elevation of the irrigation station associated with the station icon.The informational field associated with the station icon can, in someimplementations, visually indicate the value for a voltage and the valuefor a pressure measured at the irrigation station associated with thestation icon.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application can befurther configured to cause the user interface to display a stationidentifier associated with each one of the station icons, where thestation identifier can identify the irrigation station associated withrespective ones of the station icons, and the station identifier can bedisplayed within the user interface adjacent to the informational fieldassociated with a respective one of the station icons.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, where the irrigation managementapplication can be stored in the memory. When executed by the controlcircuit, the irrigation management application can be configured to:receive, via a wide area network, aerial map imagery corresponding tothe at least one irrigation area from a map service server; cause a userinterface to be displayed on a display to a user, the user interfaceincluding a map layer and an irrigation control layer superimposed withthe map layer, wherein the map layer comprises the aerial map imagery,wherein the irrigation control layer comprises station icons atlocations of the aerial map imagery corresponding to the plurality ofirrigation stations; store the aerial map imagery received from the mapservice server in the memory; and cause, in an event connectivity to thewide area network is interrupted or unavailable, the user interfaceincluding the map layer and the irrigation control layer to be displayedon the display to the user, wherein the map layer comprising the aerialmap imagery can be retrieved to be displayed to the user from the memoryinstead of from the wide area network. The irrigation managementapplication can be configured to receive the aerial map imagerycorresponding to the at least one irrigation area from the map serviceserver via the wide area network and via the other electronic device. Insome embodiments, the irrigation management application can beconfigured to retrieve, in the event connectivity to the wide areanetwork is interrupted or unavailable, the aerial map imagery receivedfrom the map service server from the memory. Some embodiments include abuffer memory that can be configured for temporary storage of data,where the memory can be configured to non-volatilely store the aerialmap imagery received from the map service server.

An irrigation management system is provided in some embodimentscomprising an irrigation management application for use in monitoringand/or controlling irrigation of at least one irrigation area includinga plurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation managementapplication cab be configured to be executed by an electronic deviceincluding a control circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigationmanagement application can be stored in the memory. When executed by thecontrol circuit, the irrigation management application can be configuredto: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, theuser interface including a map of a geographic region that includes theat least one irrigation area; cause the user interface to display amulti-station selector feature to allow a user to select two or more ofthe plurality of irrigation stations associated with the at least oneirrigation area; and cause, responsive to a selection by the user of thetwo or more of the irrigation stations, the user interface to display aninteractive control menu overlaid on a portion of the map to allow acontrol selection to be applied to each of the two or more irrigationstations selected by the user. In some embodiments, responsive to aselection by the user of the control selection within the interactivecontrol menu, irrigation by the two or more irrigation stations selectedby the user can be activated, deactivated, paused, or resumed.

The multi-station selector feature, in some embodiments, can comprise aplurality of user-selectable polygons on the map, where each of theuser-selectable polygons can define a portion of the at least oneirrigation area. A selection by the user of a given polygon can, in someinstances, comprise a selection by the user of one or more of theirrigation stations associated with the given polygon. In some instanceeach of the plurality of user-selectable polygons on the map cancorrespond to a given portion of the at least one irrigation area. Eachgiven portion of the at least one irrigation area can correspond, forexample, to plant life to be irrigated being of a similar type, or toplant-free portions of the at least one irrigation area being of asimilar type.

The interactive control menu, in some implementations, can include anedit control selection configured to permit the user to edit a size orshape of the given polygon. In some embodiments, the user interface canbe configured, in response to an interaction by the user with the editcontrol selection, to display a plurality of points defining a perimeterof the given polygon, where the user interface can permit the user toedit an overall size or shape of the given polygon by moving one or moreof the plurality of points in one or more directions. The userinterface, in some implementations, can be configured, in response to aninteraction by the user with the edit control selection, to activate adrawing tool that permits the user to control movement of the drawingtool to draw a custom-shape polygon shape defining a portion of the atleast one irrigation area and representing a user selection of theirrigation stations associated with the custom-shape polygon shape. Themulti-station selector feature, in some implementations, can beconfigured to allow the user to add a generic-shape polygon to the mapuser interface and edit a shape of the generic-shape polygon to define acustom-shape polygon defining a portion of the at least one irrigationarea and representing a user selection of the irrigation stationsassociated with the custom-shape polygon. The generic-shape polygon can,in some applications, have one of a square shape, a rectangle shape, acircle shape, an oval shape, a triangle shape, and a trapezoid shape.

In some embodiments, the multi-station selector feature can beconfigured to allow the user to select the two or more of the irrigationstations individually from the map. The multi-station selector feature,can in some instances, be configured to allow the user to unselect apreviously selected irrigation stations individually from the map. Whenexecuted by the control circuit, the irrigation management applicationin some embodiments can be configured to cause the user interface todisplay a plurality of station icons, each of the station iconscorresponding to one of the irrigation stations at correspondinglocations of the map, where the multi-station selector feature can beconfigured to allow the user to select the two or more of the irrigationstations individually from the map by selecting individual ones of thestation icons. The user interface can in some implementations permit theuser to select one or more of the station icons displayed on the map byclicking or tapping on the one or more of the station icons. The userinterface can be configured, in response to a selection by the user ofthe one or more of the station icons displayed on the map, to generate agraphical element associated with the one or more of the station iconsselected by the user to indicate that the one or more of the stationicons have been selected by the user.

In some embodiments, the irrigation management application can befurther configured to cause the user interface, responsive to aselection by the user of the multi-station selector feature, to displaythe interactive control menu overlaid on the portion of the map to allowthe control selection to be applied to the irrigation stationscorresponding to the one or more station icons selected by the user. Theinteractive control menu can indicate, in some instances, a total numberof the station icons selected by the user. The interactive control menucan include an interactive control selection icon configured to activateirrigation by the one or more of the irrigation stations correspondingto the one or more station icons selected by the user. In someembodiments, the irrigation management application can be furtherconfigured to cause the user interface, responsive to a selection by theuser of the interactive control selection icon, to generate a runduration sub-menu that can be configured to permit the user to set anirrigation run duration of the one or more of the irrigation stationscorresponding to the one or more station icons selected by the user. Insome embodiments, each of the station icons is associated with auser-visible identifier that identifies a respective one of the stationicons, wherein the user-visible identifier of a station icon indicatesat least one of: a location type where an irrigation station associatedwith a given station icon is located; and a sequential number assignedto the given station icon within the location type.

Irrigation management systems are provided in some embodiments thatcomprise an irrigation management application for use in monitoringand/or controlling irrigation of at least one irrigation area includinga plurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation managementapplication can be configured to be executed by an electronic deviceincluding a control circuit, and a memory, where the irrigationmanagement application is stored in the memory. The irrigationmanagement application, when executed by the control circuit, can beconfigured to: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to auser, the user interface including a map layer and an irrigation controllayer superimposed with the map layer, wherein the map layer comprisesaerial map imagery, wherein the irrigation control layer comprisesstation icons at locations of the aerial map imagery corresponding tothe plurality of irrigation stations; and cause the user interface todisplay one or more supplemental image layers each comprising a visualrepresentation of data and superimposed with the map layer and theirrigation control layer. In some embodiments, each of the one or moresupplemental image layers is partially transparent such that portions ofthe map layer underlying the one or more supplemental image layers arevisible to the user. The user interface can include an identifier inassociation with each one of the one or more supplemental image layersto uniquely identify each one of the one or more supplemental imagelayers. The user interface, in some embodiments, further comprises alocation icon indicating a physical location of the electronic device onthe aerial map imagery. At least one of the location icons and thestation icons can overlay the one or more supplemental image layers.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigation managementapplication is stored in the memory. The irrigation managementapplication, when executed by the control circuit, can be configured tocause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user. The userinterface can, in some embodiments, include a listing of the irrigationstations in the at least one irrigation area by irrigation stationidentifier, user-modifiable irrigation station selection fields thatpermit the user to select one or more of the irrigation stations in thelisting, and a plurality of interactive icons that permit the user tocontrol irrigation by the one or more of the irrigation stationsselected by the user. The user interface, in some implementations, canfurther include a listing of at least one operational attribute of eachone of the irrigation stations in the listing of the irrigationstations. The interactive icons can be configured to permit the user tosort, filter, and/or search the irrigation stations by the at least oneoperational attribute.

In some instances, the user interface can further include status iconsassociated with each one of the irrigation stations in the listing, andeach of the status icons can visually indicate whether an irrigationstation associated with a respective one of the status icons isoperating normally or malfunctioning. The user interface can include aninteractive name filter feature that permits the user to sort, filter,and search the irrigation stations based at least on the irrigationstations having irrigation station identifiers that share one or morestarting characters or that contain two or more identical adjacentcharacters. In some embodiments, the user interface further includes alocation identifier of each of the irrigation stations indicating alocation type of each of the irrigation stations within the at least oneirrigation area; and an interactive location filter feature that permitsthe user to sort, filter, and search the irrigation stations based atleast on the irrigation stations having location identifiers that sharetwo or more starting characters or containing one or more identicalcharacters.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigation managementapplication is stored in the memory. When executed by the controlcircuit, the irrigation management application, in some embodiments, canbe configured to: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display toa user, the user interface including a table of data relating to one ormore characteristics of an irrigation system, wherein the table includesrows and columns of the data; and cause the user interface to bedisplayed such that values of the data are displayed in multiple colors,each color indicating different ranges of the values of the data. Insome instances, at least two of the colors comprise different shades ofone color. In some embodiments, one of the at least two of the colorsadditionally or alternatively can comprise a second color different thanthe one color, the second color to visually indicate a particular datavalue as an outlier value. The colors, in some implementations, caninclude a darker color that indicates a higher range of the values ofthe data than a lighter color, and/or a lighter color that indicates ahigher range of the values of the data than a darker color. The multiplecolors, in some embodiments, can comprise a first color and a secondcolor, where the first color can indicate for example that the datavalue has been increased from a nominal value and the second color canindicate for example that the data value has been decreased from thenominal value.

In some embodiments, the characteristics can comprise at least one of anirrigation station run time, an irrigation station water usage, and anirrigation station alert occurrence. The values can comprise at leastone of run times, number of gallons used, number of inches of irrigationapplied, number of watering passes applied, irrigation station voltage,irrigation station pressure, irrigation station flow, irrigation stationage/date code, precipitation rate, and number of irrigation stationalerts. In some embodiments, the characteristics comprise at least oneof an irrigation station or area run time, an irrigation station or areawater usage, a number of irrigation station or area watering passes, anirrigation station voltage, an irrigation station pressure, anirrigation flow, an irrigation flow rate, an irrigation component age,an irrigation station precipitation rate, and a number of irrigationstation alerts.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in controlling irrigation ofat least one irrigation area including a plurality of irrigationstations, where the irrigation management application can be configuredto be executed by an electronic device including a control circuit, anda memory. The irrigation management application can be stored in thememory, and when executed by the control circuit, the irrigationmanagement application can be configured to cause a user interface to bedisplayed on a display to a user, the user interface including listingof the irrigation stations in the at least one irrigation area byirrigation station identifier, and cause the user interface to displayan active adjustment panel over a portion of the listing and proximateto a given irrigation station, where the panel indicating a programmedrun time, separate run time adjustments, and an adjusted run time forthe given irrigation station.

The irrigation management application, in some implementations, can beconfigured to cause, in response to a user selection of the givenirrigation station in the listing, the user interface to display theactive adjustment panel over the portion of the listing and proximate tothe selected irrigation station. In some embodiments, the irrigationmanagement application can be configured to cause, in response to a userhover action over the given irrigation station in the listing, the userinterface to display the active adjustment panel over the portion of thelisting and proximate to the given irrigation station. The separate runtime adjustments can include one or more of a program adjust value, aschedule adjust value, a seasonal adjust value, a weather-basedadjustment value, an evapotranspiration (ET)-based adjust value, systemadjustment value, a manual adjust value, and a custom adjust value. Theadjusted run time can, in some implementations, be calculated from theprogrammed run time and the separate run time adjustments.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, where the irrigation managementapplication is stored in the memory. When executed by the controlcircuit, the irrigation management application is configured to: cause auser interface to be displayed on a display to a user, the userinterface including a listing of the irrigation stations in the at leastone irrigation area with corresponding irrigation station selectors; andcause the user interface, responsive to a selection of a group ofmultiple irrigation stations by a user via the irrigation stationselectors, to display an interactive batch edit menu that permits theuser to select at least one operational attribute and assign values tothe at least one operational attribute to be applied to each irrigationstation of the group of multiple irrigation stations. In someembodiments, the irrigation management application can be configured tocause the user interface to display the interactive batch edit menu thatpermits the user to select the at least one operational attribute andassign values to only the at least one operational attribute to beapplied to each irrigation station of the group of multiple irrigationstations such that the user is not required to assign values tonon-selected ones of the operational attributes.

The irrigation management application can be configured, in someembodiments, to cause the user interface to display the interactivebatch edit menu that permits the user to select the at least oneoperational attribute and assign the values to the at least oneoperational attribute to be applied to each irrigation station of thegroup of multiple irrigation stations in a single operation of theinteractive batch edit menu. The listing of the irrigation stations, insome implementations, can be caused to be displayed in rows and thecorresponding irrigation station selectors each can comprise a selectionbox in each row adjacent each irrigation station of each row. In someinstances the at least one operational attribute of the interactivebatch edit menu comprises at least one of: a run time, a cycle time, arotation time, a soak time, a station adjust, a weather adjust, a flowrate per emitter, a sprinkler type, an emitter precipitation rate, aflow zone assignment, a crop coefficient, a suspend setting, an assignedstation area, and an assigned station sub-area. The irrigationmanagement application can be further configured, in some instances, tocause the user interface, responsive to a user selection the at leastone operational attribute from the interactive batch edit menu, todisplay a value assignment menu configured to allow the user to assignvalues to the at least one operational attribute selected by the user inthe interactive batch edit menu. The value assignment menu can provide afield that permits the user to input a value for the at least oneoperational attribute selected by the user, or provides a starting valueof the at least one operational attribute selected by the user for theuser to adjust. The irrigation control system can be configured toupdate station programming to control the irrigation stations inaccording with the assigned values for the at least one operationalattribute selected by the user. The listing of the irrigation stationscan include a multiple station selector configured to select multipleones of the irrigation stations.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations. The irrigation management applicationcan be configured to be executed by an electronic device including acontrol circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigation managementapplication is stored in the memory. The irrigation managementapplication, when executed by the control circuit, can be configured to:cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, the userinterface including: a listing of the irrigation stations in the atleast one irrigation area with corresponding irrigation stationselectors; and an interactive station move or reorder feature. Theinteractive station move or reorder feature which, when interacted withby the user, can be configured to cause, the user interface to displayat least one of: an option for the user to reorder a given irrigationstation in the listing to allow the user to shift the given irrigationstation into a different position within the listing; and an option forthe user to move the given irrigation station to another listing ofirrigation stations. In some embodiments, all operational attributes ofthe given irrigation station and others of the plurality of irrigationstations in the listing or the other listing are retained followingreordering or moving. When the option to reorder is selected by theuser, the user interface can be caused to display a reorder stationmenu, the reorder station menu allowing the user to select a newposition in the listing for the given irrigation station, where, whenthe new position is selected, the user interface is caused to redisplaythe list of irrigation stations within the given irrigation station inthe new position and remaining irrigation stations shifted in view ofthe new position.

The reorder station menu, in some implementations, can be caused todisplay a user selection to apply a new default name for the givenirrigation station. Similarly, the reorder station menu can, in someinstances, be caused to display a user selection to re-sequence theirrigation stations in the listing with default station names to removegaps in naming. When the option to move is selected by the user, theuser interface can in some embodiments be caused to display a movestation menu, the move station menu allowing the user to select theother listing of irrigation stations, wherein, when the other listing isselected, the user interface can be caused to redisplay the list ofirrigation stations without the given irrigation station. In someembodiments, the move station menu can provide a plurality of listingsof irrigation stations including the other listing that may be selectedby the user. The plurality of listings selectable via the move stationmenu can in some instances permit the user to move the given irrigationstation to a selectable listing based on user selection of one or moreof an area portion of the at least one irrigation area to be irrigated,a plant type area portion of the at least one irrigation area to beirrigated, a non-plant feature area portion of the at least oneirrigation area to be irrigated, and a sub-area portion of the areaportion of the at least one irrigation area to be irrigated.

In some embodiments, the move station menu can be caused to display auser selection to alter attributes of the given irrigation station to beconsistent with default attributes of the irrigation stations of theother listing. The move station menu can in some implementations becaused to display a user selection to apply a new default name for thegiven irrigation station to be consistent with default names of theirrigation stations of the other listing. When the other listing isselected, the user interface can be caused to redisplay the list ofirrigation stations without the given irrigation station including a gapin place of the moved irrigation station and provide a user selectableoption to remove the gap and re-sequence the list of irrigationstations. In some embodiments, the irrigation management system can beconfigured to update station programming to control the given irrigationstation in accordance with the operational attributes.

Some embodiments provide irrigation management systems comprising anirrigation management application for use in monitoring and/orcontrolling irrigation of at least one irrigation area including aplurality of irrigation stations, wherein the irrigation managementapplication can be configured to be executed by an electronic deviceincluding a control circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigationmanagement application is stored in the memory. When executed by thecontrol circuit, the irrigation management application can be configuredto cause a user interface to be displayed on a display to a user, theuser interface including a flow tree listing including a hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers each having flow elements. A firstexpandable flow element layer can comprise a pump layer indicating alisting of pump elements in the system. A second expandable flow elementlayer can comprise a flow branch layer indicating a listing of one ormore flow branch elements associated with each pump element of the pumplayer. A third expandable flow element layer can comprise a flow zonelayer indicating a listing of one or more flow zone elements associatedwith each flow branch element of the branch layer. The irrigationmanagement application can, in some embodiments, further be configuredto cause the user interface to allow a user to select a given flowelement in the hierarchy, and cause, in response to a selection of thegiven flow element by the user, the user interface to display an optionto move the given flow element.

In response to a selection by the user of the option to move the givenflow element, the user interface can be configured to allow the user tomove the selected flow element to a new location in the hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers. In some embodiments, each of the pumpelements, the flow branch elements and the flow zone elements aresequentially named, and wherein one or more of the pump elements, theflow branch elements and the flow zone elements are automaticallysequentially renamed based on movement of the flow element by the user.A hierarchy of expandable flow element layers can include, in someimplementations, a fourth expandable flow element layer comprising asprinkler layer indicating a listing of one or more sprinkler elementsassociated with each flow zone element of the flow zone layer. In someembodiments, one or more of the expandable flow element layers comprisesmultiple expandable flow element layers. The second expandable flowelement layer can comprise a main flow branch layer indicating a listingof one or more main flow branch elements associated with each pumpelement of the pump layer, and one or more sub-flow branch layers eachindicating a listing of one or more sub-flow branch elements associatedwith each main flow branch element. The option to move the given flowelement, in some implementations, can comprise a flow element move menuto allow the user to define a new location in the hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers. XXX

The following patent documents are incorporated in their entirety hereinby reference:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 10,609,878, granted Apr. 7, 2020, titled WIRELESS    REMOTE IRRIGATION CONTROL (Docket No. 8473-141359-US);-   U.S. Pat. No. 11,089,746, granted Aug. 17, 2021, titled WIRELESS    REMOTE IRRIGATION CONTROL (Docket No. 8473-148484-US);-   U.S. Pat. No. 9,258,952, granted Feb. 16, 2016, titled VOLUMETRIC    BUDGET-BASED IRRIGATION CONTROL (Docket No. 8473-92397-US);-   U.S. Pat. No. 8,849,461, granted Sep. 30, 2014, titled METHODS AND    SYSTEMS FOR IRRIGATION CONTROL (Docket No. 8473-130720-US);-   U.S. Pat. No. 9,703,275, granted Jul. 11, 2017, titled METHODS AND    SYSTEMS FOR IRRIGATION AND CLIMATE CONTROL (Docket No.    8473-130721-US);-   U.S. Publication No. 2021/0229124, published Jul. 29, 2021, titled    IRRIGATION CONTROL BASED ON A USER ENTERED NUMBER OF WATERING PASSES    (Docket No. 8473-148724-US);-   U.S. Publication No. 2009/0099701, published Apr. 16, 2009, titled    REMOTE ACCESS TO IRRIGATION CONTROL SYSTEMS (Docket No.    8473-86455-US); and-   U.S. Provisional No. 63/188,997, filed May 14, 2021, titled    AUTO-DETECTION OF DEVICES ON A MULTI-WIRE IRRIGATION CONTROL SYSTEM    AND AUTO-ASSIGNMENT OF RECEIVERS TO IRRIGATION ZONES, (Docket No.    8473-152222-US)

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of othermodifications, alterations, and combinations can also be made withrespect to the above described embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept.

1. An irrigation management system comprising: an irrigation managementapplication for use in monitoring and/or controlling irrigation of atleast one irrigation area including a plurality of irrigation stations,wherein the irrigation management application is configured to beexecuted by an electronic device including a control circuit, and amemory, wherein the irrigation management application is stored in thememory, and wherein when executed by the control circuit, the irrigationmanagement application is configured to: cause a user interface to bedisplayed on a display to a user, the user interface including a listingof the irrigation stations in the at least one irrigation area withcorresponding irrigation station selectors; and cause the userinterface, responsive to a selection of a group of multiple irrigationstations by a user via the irrigation station selectors, to display aninteractive batch edit menu that permits the user to select at least oneoperational attribute and assign values to the at least one operationalattribute to be applied to each irrigation station of the group ofmultiple irrigation stations.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein theirrigation management application is configured to cause the userinterface to display the interactive batch edit menu that permits theuser to select the at least one operational attribute and assign valuesto only the at least one operational attribute to be applied to eachirrigation station of the group of multiple irrigation stations suchthat the user is not required to assign values to non-selected ones ofthe operational attributes.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein theirrigation management application is configured to cause the userinterface to display the interactive batch edit menu that permits theuser to select the at least one operational attribute and assign thevalues to the at least one operational attribute to be applied to eachirrigation station of the group of multiple irrigation stations in asingle operation of the interactive batch edit menu.
 4. The system ofclaim 141 wherein the listing of the irrigation stations is caused to bedisplayed in rows and the corresponding irrigation station selectorseach comprise a selection box in each row adjacent each irrigationstation of each row.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least oneoperational attribute of the interactive batch edit menu comprises atleast one of: a run time, a cycle time, a rotation time, a soak time, astation adjust, a weather adjust, a flow rate per emitter, a sprinklertype, an emitter precipitation rate, a flow zone assignment, a cropcoefficient, a suspend setting, an assigned station area, and anassigned station sub-area.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein theirrigation management application is further configured to cause theuser interface, responsive to a user selection the at least oneoperational attribute from the interactive batch edit menu, to display avalue assignment menu configured to allow the user to assign values tothe at least one operational attribute selected by the user in theinteractive batch edit menu.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the valueassignment menu provides a field that permits the user to input a valuefor the at least one operational attribute selected by the user, orprovides a starting value of the at least one operational attributeselected by the user for the user to adjust.
 8. The system of claim 1wherein the irrigation control system is configured to update stationprogramming to control the irrigation stations in according with theassigned values for the at least one operational attribute selected bythe user.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein the listing of the irrigationstations includes a multiple station selector configured to selectmultiple ones of the irrigation stations.
 10. An irrigation managementsystem comprising: an irrigation management application for use inmonitoring and/or controlling irrigation of at least one irrigation areaincluding a plurality of irrigation stations, wherein the irrigationmanagement application is configured to be executed by an electronicdevice including a control circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigationmanagement application is stored in the memory, and wherein whenexecuted by the control circuit, the irrigation management applicationis configured to: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display toa user, the user interface including: a listing of the irrigationstations in the at least one irrigation area with correspondingirrigation station selectors; and an interactive station move or reorderfeature which, when interacted with by the user, causes, the userinterface to display at least one of: an option for the user to reordera given irrigation station in the listing to allow the user to shift thegiven irrigation station into a different position within the listing;and an option for the user to move the given irrigation station toanother listing of irrigation stations; wherein all operationalattributes of the given irrigation station and others of the pluralityof irrigation stations in the listing or the other listing are retainedfollowing reordering or moving.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein, whenthe option to reorder is selected by the user, the user interface iscaused to display a reorder station menu, the reorder station menuallowing the user to select a new position in the listing for the givenirrigation station, and wherein, when the new position is selected, theuser interface is caused to redisplay the list of irrigation stationswithin the given irrigation station in the new position and remainingirrigation stations shifted in view of the new position.
 12. The systemof claim 11 wherein the reorder station menu is caused to display a userselection to apply a new default name for the given irrigation station.13. The system of claim 11 wherein the reorder station menu is caused todisplay a user selection to re-sequence the irrigation stations in thelisting with default station names to remove gaps in naming.
 14. Thesystem of claim 10 wherein, when the option to move is selected by theuser, the user interface is caused to display a move station menu, themove station menu allowing the user to select the other listing ofirrigation stations, and wherein, when the other listing is selected,the user interface is caused to redisplay the list of irrigationstations without the given irrigation station.
 15. The system of claim14 wherein the move station menu provides a plurality of listings ofirrigation stations including the other listing that may be selected bythe user.
 16. The system of claim 15 wherein the plurality of listingsselectable via the move station menu permits the user to move the givenirrigation station to a selectable listing based on user selection ofone or more of an area portion of the at least one irrigation area to beirrigated, a plant type area portion of the at least one irrigation areato be irrigated, a non-plant feature area portion of the at least oneirrigation area to be irrigated, and a sub-area portion of the areaportion of the at least one irrigation area to be irrigated.
 17. Thesystem of claim 14 wherein the move station menu is caused to display auser selection to alter attributes of the given irrigation station to beconsistent with default attributes of the irrigation stations of theother listing.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the move station menuis caused to display a user selection to apply a new default name forthe given irrigation station to be consistent with default names of theirrigation stations of the other listing.
 19. The system of claim 14wherein, when the other listing is selected, the user interface iscaused to redisplay the list of irrigation stations without the givenirrigation station including a gap in place of the moved irrigationstation and provide a user selectable option to remove the gap andre-sequence the list of irrigation stations.
 20. The system of claim 10wherein the irrigation management system is configured to update stationprogramming to control the given irrigation station in accordance withthe operational attributes.
 21. An irrigation management systemcomprising: an irrigation management application for use in monitoringand/or controlling irrigation of at least one irrigation area includinga plurality of irrigation stations, wherein the irrigation managementapplication is configured to be executed by an electronic deviceincluding a control circuit, and a memory, wherein the irrigationmanagement application is stored in the memory, and wherein whenexecuted by the control circuit, the irrigation management applicationis configured to: cause a user interface to be displayed on a display toa user, the user interface including a flow tree listing including ahierarchy of expandable flow element layers each having flow elements,wherein a first expandable flow element layer comprises a pump layerindicating a listing of pump elements in the system; wherein a secondexpandable flow element layer comprises a flow branch layer indicating alisting of one or more flow branch elements associated with each pumpelement of the pump layer; and wherein a third expandable flow elementlayer comprises a flow zone layer indicating a listing of one or moreflow zone elements associated with each flow branch element of thebranch layer; cause the user interface to allow a user to select a givenflow element in the hierarchy; and cause, in response to a selection ofthe given flow element by the user, the user interface to display anoption to move the given flow element.
 22. The system of claim 21,wherein in response to a selection by the user of the option to move thegiven flow element, the user interface is configured to allow the userto move the selected flow element to a new location in the hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein eachof the pump elements, the flow branch elements and the flow zoneelements are sequentially named, and wherein one or more of the pumpelements, the flow branch elements and the flow zone elements areautomatically sequentially renamed based on movement of the flow elementby the user.
 24. The system of claim 21, wherein the hierarchy ofexpandable flow element layers includes a fourth expandable flow elementlayer comprising a sprinkler layer indicating a listing of one or moresprinkler elements associated with each flow zone element of the flowzone layer.
 25. The system of claim 21, wherein one or more of theexpandable flow element layers comprises multiple expandable flowelement layers.
 26. The system of claim 21, wherein the secondexpandable flow element layer comprises a main flow branch layerindicating a listing of one or more main flow branch elements associatedwith each pump element of the pump layer, and one or more sub-flowbranch layers each indicating a listing of one or more sub-flow branchelements associated with each main flow branch element.
 27. The systemof claim 21, wherein the option to move the given flow element comprisesa flow element move menu to allow the user to define a new location inthe hierarchy of expandable flow element layers.